The Politics of Federal Higher Education Policymaking: 1945-1980. [Report from the] Project on Politics and Inequality in American Higher Education.

Key federal policy decisions since World War II that have affected the number and characteristics of students entering higher education and, overall, the social-stratification role of higher education are reviewed. The focus is on legislation and other policy decisions concerning student aid, community colleges, and postsecondary vocational education. Attention is also directed to institutional aid, higher education coordination and planning, persons and groups instrumental to the passage of major legislative enactments, and the climate of opinion in which federal policy decisions have been made. From 1945 to 1958, the central arguments in favor of increased access were that: the United States faced severe shortages of highly trained manpower, the Soviet Union was dangerously ahead in the training of such manpower, and the realization of the goal of equality of opportunity required equality of access to higher education. While initially, discussions about who should enter college mostly focused on the highly talented, attention shifted in the early 1960s to specific social groups, notably black and lower-income youth. Policymakers did not rely primarily on the goal of equality of opportunity as a justification of greater access until the mid- to late 1960s. Among the issues pertaining to direct federal aid to colleges was the need for constructing academic facilities to respond to large increases in enrollment. Interest in community colleges and postsecondary vocational education accelerated markedly during the early 1960s. By the late 1960s, the focus of attention was for aid to be used for general operating expenses. During 1973-1980, retrenchment in higher education was the major concern. Appendices provide a synopsis of federal higher education legislation and information on sources of funds for higher education, 1930-1980. (SW)