Generation on a Tightrope

Today’s college students feel as if they are crossing an abyss between their dreams and the reality of an uncertain future. They are a generation seeking stability in a time of profound and accelerating change. They want government and our other social institutions to work in a time when they’re broken; they cling to the American Dream in an age of diminished expectations. They are walking a tightrope, attempting to balance digital connectedness and personal isolation, global citizenship and local vision, commonality and difference in the most diverse generation in American history, and a desire to be treated as mature adults while being more dependent on their parents than previous college students. Generation on a Tightrope offers a compelling portrait of today’s undergraduate college students that sheds light on their attributes, expectations, aspirations, academics, attitudes, values, beliefs, social lives, and politics. Based on research of 5,000 college students and student affairs practitioners from 270 diverse college campuses, the book explores the similarities and differences between today’s generation of students and previous generations. The authors examine the myriad forces that have shaped these students and will continue to shape them as they prepare to meet the future.

The first two volumes in this series exploring the psyche of college students, When Dreams and Heroes Died (1980) and When Hope and Fear Collide (1998), offered thoughtful and accurate profiles of the students of the 1980s and 1990s. As Generation on a Tightrope clearly reveals, today’s students need a very different education than the undergraduates who came before them: an education for the 21^st Century, which colleges and universities are ill-equipped to offer and which will require major changes of them to provide.

Painting a realistic picture of today’s college students, the authors offer guidance to higher education professionals, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, employers, parents, and the public. The book’s insights can help them equip students for the world they face and the world they will help to create.

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THE AUTHORS

ARTHUR LEVINE is president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. Previously, he was president and professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

DIANE R. DEAN is associate professor of higher education policy and administration at Illinois State University.

Praise for Generation on a Tightrope "Over the last four decades, Arthur Levine has become the premier analyst of continuities and changes in the American college student population. In this impressive and comprehensive volume, Levine and coauthor Diane R. Dean provide an authoritative and richly textured picture of the much-discussed current generation." Howard Gardner , Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education "Arthur Levine and Diane R. Dean take the long view of today's generation of college students. This is a brilliant examination of what has shaped our young people, what they are doing with the tools they have, and where they are headed. It is a diagnosis of what ails them, a celebration of their strengths, and a compelling and generous prescription for their future and ours." Henry Louis Gates, Jr. , Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University "Through this captivating portrait of the aspirations, values, and unique needs of today's college students, Levine and Dean's clearly written and engaging book ought to generate a national discussion of how higher education can be restructured in order to respond to and prepare the next generation of college-educated adults not only for effective functioning in the workplace, but also to live lives as whole human beings who can help to lead our society to a healthier place." Alexander W. Astin and Helen S. Astin , Distinguished Professors of Higher Education emeriti, UCLA; authors, Cultivating the Spirit: How Higher Education Can Enhance Students' Inner Lives "I can't say enough about how important this work is. This book is right on the mark for what needs to be known and understood about today's college students by those who are responsible for educating the future leaders and citizens of the world." Gwen Dungy , executive director, emeritus, NASPA, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education "Generation on a Tightrope: A Portrait of Today's College Student is a must-read for college presidents, administrators, and professors as well as parents, employers, and government leaders who all have a stake in student success. Understanding who today's college students are is essential as we collaboratively develop and deliver the education that will prepare this generation to build our future." Nancy L. Zimpher , chancellor, State University of New York

Praise for Generation on a Tightrope "Over the last four decades, Arthur Levine has become the premier analyst of continuities and changes in the American college student population. In this impressive and comprehensive volume, Levine and coauthor Diane R. Dean provide an authoritative and richly textured picture of the much-discussed current generation." Howard Gardner , Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education "Arthur Levine and Diane R. Dean take the long view of today's generation of college students. This is a brilliant examination of what has shaped our young people, what they are doing with the tools they have, and where they are headed. It is a diagnosis of what ails them, a celebration of their strengths, and a compelling and generous prescription for their future and ours." Henry Louis Gates, Jr. , Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University "Through this captivating portrait of the aspirations, values, and unique needs of today's college students, Levine and Dean's clearly written and engaging book ought to generate a national discussion of how higher education can be restructured in order to respond to and prepare the next generation of college-educated adults not only for effective functioning in the workplace, but also to live lives as whole human beings who can help to lead our society to a healthier place." Alexander W. Astin and Helen S. Astin , Distinguished Professors of Higher Education emeriti, UCLA; authors, Cultivating the Spirit: How Higher Education Can Enhance Students' Inner Lives "I can't say enough about how important this work is. This book is right on the mark for what needs to be known and understood about today's college students by those who are responsible for educating the future leaders and citizens of the world." Gwen Dungy , executive director, emeritus, NASPA, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education "Generation on a Tightrope: A Portrait of Today's College Student is a must-read for college presidents, administrators, and professors as well as parents, employers, and government leaders who all have a stake in student success. Understanding who today's college students are is essential as we collaboratively develop and deliver the education that will prepare this generation to build our future." Nancy L. Zimpher , chancellor, State University of New York

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