New Book by Pullias Center Founding Director William G. Tierney

William G. Tierney’s “Get Real: 49 Challenges Confronting Higher Education” provides a thought-provoking overview of the many challenges in higher education through forty-nine short essays.

Higher education always seems to be in crisis; governments, foundations, associations, and even professors lament problems plaguing America’s colleges and universities. Drawing on his experiences and expertise as a University Professor Emeritus and Founding Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education, in Get Real, William G. Tierney examines the many challenges confronting higher education and how to deal with them. 

In forty-nine short essays, Tierney provokes creative, forward-looking public discussion about what higher education could and should look like in the twenty-first century. The essays touch on critical issues–diversity, free speech, the rise of for-profit colleges, and student debt–and aims to provide readers with background information so they can better understand and form their own opinions on such topics.

“This year’s pandemic makes us think that everything will change,” says Tierney. “But the problems we faced in higher education, prior to the pandemic, such as affordability, access, academic freedom, governance, and the like will still be with us once we have a vaccine. In my book, I highlight these said problems and highly encourage my readers to think critically about how we can best solve these issues together.”

Click here to order your copy of the book and to learn more.