Synopsis for The Politics of Higher Education: Lawmakers and the Academy in Illinois

What is the responsibility of the legislature toward higher education? What sorts of decisions are made, and why? What do these decisions portend for colleges and universities? Nowlan, who has been a participant-observer in both politics and education, uses the insights gained from his dual careers to write a reasoned study of the relationship between the Illinois legislature and higher education.

The book focuses on the years 1969-1972, a period in which the substantial goodwill existing between higher education and state capitals became strained by budget conflict and student unrest. University funding requests were sharply trimmed. Bills to set minimum teaching loads and kick student protestors off the campuses were receiving favorable hearings from lawmakers.

The author provides a decisional case analysis of the budgeting process, state aid to private colleges and community colleges, student unrest, legislation, and tuition policies. Nowlan also deals with the crucial behind-the-scenes considerations, which influenced lawmakers in their relations with the academy.

The author examines the decision-making roles of the governor’s office, the Bureau of the Budget, the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the university systems and their campuses, and higher education interest groups; his experiences have been supplemented by extensive interviews and questionnaires. The results, a judiciously written volume marked by both familiarity and objectivity, will be important for those with interests in government, political science, and higher education. Nowlan concludes with proposals for improving relationships between higher education and state government.

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