It's a statistic that's sure to surprise: close to 45 percent of postsecondary students in the United States today do not enroll in college directly out of high school and many attend part-time. Following a tradition of self-improvement as old as the Republic, the "nontraditional" college student is becoming the norm. Back to School is the first book to look at the schools that serve a growing population of "second-chancers," exploring what higher education in the fullest sense of the term can offer our rapidly changing society and why it is so critical to support the institutions that make it possible for millions of Americans to better their lot in life.
In the anecdotal style of his bestselling Possible Lives, Rose crafts rich and moving vignettes of people in tough circumstances who find their way; who get a second . . . or third . . . or even fourth chance; and who, in a surprising number of cases, reinvent themselves as educated, engaged citizens. Rose reminds us that our nation's economic and civic future rests heavily on the health of the institutions that serve millions of everyday people not simply the top twenty universities in U.S. News and World Report and paints a vivid picture of the community colleges and adult education programs that give so many a shot at reaching their aspirations.
- ISBN10 1595587861
- ISBN13 9781595587862
- Publish Date 11 October 2012
- Publish Status Transferred
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint The New Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 208
- Language English