Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education

Universities have often been encouraged to act more like businesses. That is, to use marketing smarts to attract top students and faculty, offer innovative programs to raise revenue, and be fiscally responsible to stakeholders. Now that some schools have done just that, along comes author David Kirp to look and learn from the results. The bulk of book is taken up by case studies of twelve universities that range from tradition-soaked University of Chicago at one end of the scholastic spectrum, to DeVry University, first of the for-profit universities to go public and now boasting 50,000 students on twenty-five campuses in two countries. It's a question of balance, the author says, as school administrators try to weigh the needs and influences of market forces with the preservation of independence and other values of academic life. And while praising some successes, the overall picture portrayed here is not encouraging. But neither is Kirp nostalgic. The message delivered is a quote from economist Arthur Okun: "There is a place for the market, but the market must be kept in its place." (For another view on the subject, read our interview with former Harvard University president Derek Bok.)