University Dean Questions the Value of College Education

New Kindle book looks at the costs and declining benefits of American higher education

Given the current economic climate, obtaining a college degree -- or beyond, some would argue -- is a requirement for finding quality work. But the value of that education, in terms of both dollars and intellectual importance, has never been more in question, argues a former university dean in a new book released this month.

As tuition rises and competition for admission into elite schools becomes more intense, sobering data tells us that approximately half the nation's four-year college students fail to complete the requirements for a baccalaureate degree but are nonetheless burdened by massive student-loan debt.
Colleges and universities, meanwhile, struggle with reduced state funding, the nuances of "shaping" an incoming class, and programs that boost their rankings rather than their academic strength.

"The desire to open every university door to every potential student has led to massive loan programs. Standards have been reduced in order to provide 'access' and 'opportunity,'" says former university dean Richard B.
Schwartz. He questions of the true worth of today's higher education in his new book Is a College Education Still Worth the Price?
(http://www.nowandthenreader.com/is-a-college-education-still-worth-the-price/)

Richard Schwartz has a wealth of experience in higher education. Currently a professor of English at the University of Missouri, he has served as dean, associate dean, and interim provost at the University of Wisconsin, Georgetown, and Missouri, and has taught at all three campuses. With an insider's knowledge, he argues that the entrenched flaws in educational policy require an honest and forthright look before we can begin the process of changing them.

Available for $2.99 in a list of short-form Amazon Kindle Books, Barnes and Noble Nook Books, and Apple iPad books published by boutique digital publisher Now and Then Reader, Is a College Education Still Worth the Price? serves as an important document in defining the meaning and worth of a college credential, and brings an informed voice to the current "college for all" debate.

Additional nonfiction books published by Now and Then Reader
include:

-- John F. Kennedy's Women: The Story of a Sexual Obsession
   by Michael O'Brien;
-- New York Times contributor Ray Robinson's remembrance of
   Hank Greenberg and anti-Semitism in baseball, High and
   Tight;
-- Artificial Epidemics, an eye-opening examination of the
   dangers of medical activism by Stewart Justman

For a review copy of Is a College Education Still Worth the Price? or to schedule an interview with Richard Schwartz, please contact Chandos Erwin at press(at)nowandthenreader(dot)com or (310) 929-7927

About Now and Then

Now and Then Reader LLC is a digital publisher of serious nonfiction with a growing list that includes original works, excerpts from forthcoming books, and reprints of material that otherwise is not readily available for e-readers. Now and Then titles can be previewed at http://www.nowandthenreader.com. Follow Now and Then on Facebook and Twitter at http://www.facebook.com/nowandthenreader, at http://www.twitter.com/nowthenreader.