Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Historians and higher education -- Colleges in the Colonial Era -- Creating the "American Way" in higher education: College-building, 1785 to 1860 -- Diversity and adversity: Resilience in American higher education, 1860 to 1890 -- Captains of industry and erudition: University-builders, 1880 to 1910 -- Alma mater: America goes to college, 1890 to 1920 -- Success and excess: Expansion and reforms in higher education, 1920 to 1945 -- Gilt by association: Higher education's "Golden Age," 1945 to 1970 -- Coming of age in America: Higher education as a troubled giant, 1970 to 2000 -- A new life begins: Reconfiguring American higher education in the twenty-first century -- Prominence and problems: American higher education since 2010.