Balance (1965 - 1990)
Who Was Educated
Enrollment in higher education institutions grew throughout the entire twentieth century. This enrollment boomed, especially after mid-century as the high school graduation rate boomed. The actual number of high school graduates more than doubled from 1.415 million in 1956 to 3.155 million in 1977.
In 1960, 35% of 17 year olds attended college. By 1970, 48% of people between the ages of 18 and 21 attended some form of higher education institution. By the early 1990s, approximately two-thirds, or 66%, of the nation's high school graduates enrolled in college.
Beyond sheer growth in numbers of high school graduates attending college, higher education institutions changed due to three factors. The demographics of the student population changed along with the sheer growth in numbers of students. Legal mandates and institutional policies, like affirmative action plans and open admissions, encouraged entry of minorities onto college campuses. Different institutional forms, such as the community college, accommodated and capitalized on the changing demographics in higher education.
By the mid-1980s, higher education could reflect on 20 years of policies that increased access for a broad range of Americans.
In 1987, the College Board sponsored a symposium on educational access and achievement in institutions of higher education. Alice Rivlin's address to the symposium on 20 years of higher education policy celebrated the widened access and achievement of college graduates after 1965. The College Board published essays by numerous educators, including Chester Finn, Floretta D. McKenzie, and James O. Freedmen, in response to Rivlin's address.
