A Critique of the Consumer Model of Higher Education ― The Tail Wagging the Dog

A Critique of the Consumer Model of Higher Education is part of a public discussion as to why American higher education, once rated number one in the world, is now rated number twelve. Its purpose is to expose the many drawbacks of the present system of evaluating college teaching. A Critique of the Consumer Model of Higher Education also raises questions about the role social class plays in American academia today, especially where the customer model is involved. A Critique of the Consumer Model of Higher Education is based on a wide variety of sources; among them some of Soucy’s own teaching, the experiences of other teachers with student evaluations, along with research studies of undergraduate culture. A Critique of the Consumer Model of Higher Education describes how various students view their college educations, ranging from students at large public universities, to those at small selective private schools, in addition to students at community colleges. A Critique of the Consumer Model of Higher Education is a provocative book, one that might upset some defenders of student evaluations of college teaching, while pleasing teachers who no longer want to see the drawbacks of the customer model of education brushed under the rug.

Robert J. Soucy earned his PhD from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and his M.A. from Kansas University. Over his career as a historian, he has worked as an instructor at Harvard University, an Assistant Professor at Kent State University, and is now Professor Emeritus at Oberlin College where he was a Full Professor. He has published 5 books on different aspects of French fascism, over thirty articles in scholarly journals, and numerous conference papers.