Abstract
Recent economic histories by Benjamin Friedman and Robert Fogel argue that America’s economic future depends on a return to policy of the 1970s, including a major reinvestment in Pell Grants, which have steadily declined as a proportion of total financial aid spending since 1978. To evaluate the adequacy of purely economic rationales for reinvesting in grants today, this review uses historiography and discourse analysis of US presidential speeches to critically review rationales for student aid policy between 1964 and 1984. Along with economic arguments based on human capital theory, presidents’ rationales for aid spending were grounded in leaders’ political ideologies and views of equity and excellence as desired sociopolitical ends of education. Economic arguments themselves varied to alternately emphasize individual and national returns on investment. More importantly for contemporary debates about a renewed federal role in supporting college opportunities, these rationales were combined in various ways throughout the period, suggesting the need today for multidimensional and balanced arguments that are relevant to the present social, economic, and political contexts.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Anderson, L. W. (2007). Congress and the classroom. University Park, TX: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Aune, J. A., & Rigsby, E. D. (2005). Civil rights rhetoric and the American presidency. College Station, TX: Texas A & M Press.
Becker, G. (1964/1975). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education (Rev. ed.). New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Berube, M. R. (1991). American presidents and education. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Boyd, J. (1970, May 17). Nixon's southern strategy: ‘It's all in the charts’. New York Times, p. 215.
Brainerd, J. (2007). Gerald Ford offered academe olive branches, but little money. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53(18), A23.
Carter, J. (1977). Inaugural address. Transcript retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/inaug.htm
Carter, J. (1978). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 26, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Carter, J. (1981). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 26, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Clymer, A. (2003, March 27). Daniel Patrick Moynihan is dead; Senator from academia was 76 [Electronic version]. New York Times, A1.
Converse, P. E., Miller, W. E., Rusk, J. G., & Wolfe, A. C. (1969). Continuity and change in American politics: Parties and issues in the 1968 election. American Political Science Review, 63, 1084.
Fogel, R. W. (2000). The fourth Great Awakening and the future of egalitarianism. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Ford, G. (1974). Remarks upon taking the oath of office. Retrieved April 18, 2008 from http://www.ford.utexas.edu/LIBRARY/speeches/740001.htm
Ford, G. (1975a). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 26, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Ford, G. (1975b). Tulane University convocation address. Transcript retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3392
Ford, G. (1976). Republican nomination acceptance speech. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://www.ford.utexas.edu/LIBRARY/speeches/760733.htm
Ford, G. (1977). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 26, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Foucault, M. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge. London: Tavistock Publications.
Foucault, M. (1980). Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings, 1972–1977. New York: Pantheon Books.
Friedman, B. M. (2005). The moral consequences of economic growth. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Gelber, S. (2007). Pathways in the past: Historical perspectives on access to higher education. Teachers College Record, 109, 2252–2286.
Germond, J. W., & Witcover, J. (1981). Blue smoke & mirrors: How Reagan won & why Carter lost the election of 1980. Minneapolis, MN: Viking Press.
Giroux, H. A. (1983). Theory and resistance in education. South Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garvey.
Giroux, H. A., & Giroux, S. S. (2004). Take back higher education: Race, youth, and the crisis of democracy in the post-civil rights era. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gladieux, L. E., & Wolanin, T. R. (1976). Congress and the colleges: The national politics of higher education. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company.
Graham, H. D. (1984). The uncertain triumph: Federal education policy in the Kennedy and Johnson Years. Raleigh, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
Habermas, J. (1987). The theory of communicative action. Boston: Beacon Press.
Hansen, J. S., & Gladieux, L. E. (1978). Middle income students: A new target for federal aid? Tax credits and student assistance programs. New York: College Entrance Examination Board.
Hansen, W. L., & Stampen, J. O. (1987). Economics and financing of higher education: The tension between quality and equity. In P. G. Altbach & R. O. Berdahl (Eds.), Higher education in American society (2nd ed.) (pp. 101–125). New York: Prometheus Press.
Hargrove, E. (1973, November). Presidential personality and revisionist views of the Presidency. American Journal of Political Science, 17, 819.
Hearn, J. C. (1993). The paradox of growth in federal aid for college students, 1965–1990. In J. Smart (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research: Vol. 9 (pp. 94–153). New York: Agathon Press.
Hearn, J. C., & Holdsworth, J. (2004). Federal student aid: The shift from grants to loans. In E. P. St. John & M. D. Parsons (Eds.), Public funding of higher education: Changing contexts and new rationales (pp. 60–74). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Jacoby, T. (2002). A surprise but not a success. Atlantic Monthly, 289 (5), 111–114.
Jenkins, P. (2006). Decade of nightmares: The end of the sixties and the making of eighties America. New York: Oxford University Press.
Johnson, L. B. (1965a). Signing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Transcript retrieved February 26, 2008 from http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/speeches. hom/650411.asp.
Johnson, L. B. (1965b). State of the union address, Transcript retrieved February 26, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html.
Johnson, L. B. (1965c). To fulfill these rights. Transcript retrieved February 26, 2008 from http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/speeches.hom/650604.asp
Johnson, L. B. (1965d). Executive Order 11246. Washington, DC: Federal Register. Retrieved March 15, 2008 from http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11246.html
Johnson, L. B. (1965e). Inaugural address. Transcript retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/inaug.htm
Johnson, L. B. (1966). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 26, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Johnson, L. B. (1967). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 26, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Johnson, L. B. (1968). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 26, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Johnson, L. B. (1969). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February, 26, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Johnstone, B. (2008). Discourse analysis. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Karen, D. (1991). The politics of class, race, and gender: Access to higher education in the United States, 1960–1986. American Journal of Education, 99, 208–237.
Kotlowski, D. J. (2001). Nixon's civil rights: Politics, principle, and policy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lakoff, G. (2008). The political mind: Why you can't understand 21st-century American politics with an 18th-century brain. New York: Viking Press.
Lavin, D. E., & Hyllegard, D. (1996). Changing the odds: Open admissions and the life chances of the disadvantaged. Binghamton, NY: Vail-Ballou Press.
Marcuse, H. (1964). One-dimensional man. Boston: Beacon Press.
Mayhew, D. R. (1991). Divided party control: Does it make a difference? PS: Political Science and Politics, 24, 637–640.
McNicol Jardine, G. (2005). Foucault and education. New York: Peter Lang.
National Commission on Excellence in Education. (1983). A nation at risk: The imperative for educational Reform. Transcript retrieved on March 28, 2008 from http://www.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html
Nixon, R. M. (1969). Executive Order 11478. Washington, DC: Federal Register. Retrieved March 15, 2008 http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11478.html
Nixon, R. M. (1970). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Nixon, R. M. (1971). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Nixon, R. M. (1972). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Nixon, R. M. (1973a). Inaugural address. Transcript retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www. yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/inaug.htm
Nixon, R. M. (1973b). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Nixon, R. M. (1974a). Special message to Congress on education priorities. Transcript retrieved April 1, 2008 from http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid = 4263
Nixon, R. M. (1974b). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Orfield, G. & Eaton, S. E. (1996). Dismantling desegregation: The quiet reversal of Brown v. Board of Education. New York: New Press.
Parsons, M. (2005). Reclaiming the foundations of power. Higher Education Policy, 18, 131–144.
Perlstein, R. (2008). Nixonland: The rise of a president and the fracturing of America. New York: Scribner.
Phillips, K. (1969). The emerging Republican majority. New York: Arlington House.
Reagan, R. (1981). Inaugural address. Transcript retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www. yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/inaug.htm
Reagan, R. (1982). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Reagan, R. (1983). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Reagan, R. (1984a). Proclamation 5197: Year of excellence in education. Transcript retrieved April 18, 2008 from http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid = 39955&st = Reagan&st1 = Excellence
Reagan, R. (1984b). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Reagan, R. (1985). State of the union address. Transcript retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www.thisnation.com/library/sotu/index.html
Regents of the University of California vs. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978).
St. John, E. P. (1998). Higher education desegregation in the post-Fordice legal environment: An historical perspective. In R. Fossey (Ed.), Readings on equal education: Vol. 15, Race, the courts, and equal education: The limits of the law (pp. 101–122). New York: AMS Press.
St. John, E. P. (2003). Refinancing the college dream: Access, equal opportunity, and justice for taxpayers. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
St. John, E. P., & Elliott, R. J. (1994). Reframing policy research: A critical examination of research on federal student aid programs. In J. C. Smart (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research: Vol. 9 (pp. 126–180). New York: Agathon Press.
St. John, E. P., & Parsons, M. (2004). Public financing of higher education: New contexts and changing rationales. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Scott, J. (2008, March 23). What politicians say when they talk about race. New York Times. Transcript retrieved March 24, 2008 from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/weekinreview/23scott.html?_r = 1&oref = slogin
Shogan, A. (2006). Moral rhetoric of American presidents. College Station, TX: Texas A & M Press.
Skrentny, J. D. (1996). The ironies of affirmative action: Politics, culture, and justice in America. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Slaughter, S. (1991). The official ideology of higher education: Ironies and inconsistencies. In W. G. Tierney (Ed.), Culture and ideology in higher education (pp. 59–86). New York: Praeger Press.
Steinberg, S. (1994, Summer). The liberal retreat from race. New Politics, 5(1), Retrieved July 13, 2008 from http://www.wpunj.edu/Ðnewpol/issue17/steinb17.htm.
Tierney, W. G., & Rhoads, R. A. (1993). Postmodernism and critical theory in higher education: Implications for research and practice. In J. C. Smart (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research: Vol. 9 (pp. 308–343). New York: Agathon Press.
Wilensky, H. L. (1975). The welfare state and equality: Structural and ideological roots of public expenditures. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Winant, H. (2008, March). Redefining racial politics for the 21st century. Invited workshop given for the Black Humanities Collective at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Posselt, J.R. (2009). The Rise and Fall of Need-Based Grants: A Critical Review of Presidential Discourses on Higher Education, 1964–1984. In: Smart, J.C. (eds) Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9628-0_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9628-0_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-9627-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-9628-0
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)