The Impact Of World Warⅱ And Post-war Environments Upon The Massification Of American Higher Education

After the end of World War II, American higher education has entered a Golden Period of rapid development, the period during 1945 and 1975 known as the era of mass higher education. Under World War II and post-war environments, G.I.Bill of Rights adopted by the federal government to be implemented, National Defense Education Act, Higher Education Act, Higher Education Facilities Act and Higher Education Amendment Act, a series of bills passed and implemented in the United States has greatly promoted the development of American higher education. The rapid development of community colleges, the increasement of higher education institutions in the number and the development of its diversity, the expansion of college enrollment and more and more types of students are given considerable impetus to the massification process of American higher education , In the mid-1970s, the realization of mass higher education in the United States is inseparable from the enormous impact of World War II and post-war environments. In this paper, based on U.S. government released data, government investigation reports and the content of a series of bills passed by Congress and Marx's materialism conception of history as a guide, the use of conceptual analysis, literature analysis, and comparative analysis methods to analyse the impact of World War II and post-war environments upon the massification of American higher education concretely, emphasize on the enormous impact of World War II and post-war environments upon the massification of American higher education.Paper as a whole includes Introduction, Body, Conclusion, References, Appendix and Epilogue six parts in total. In which the body is divided into four parts:Based on Professor Martin Trow's three-stage theory of the development of higher education, the first part mainly proposes the concept of the massification of higher education and gives a brief introduction to the development of American higher education among Pre-World War II and the post-war era of mass higher education.The second part analyses the impact of World War II upon the massification of American higher education concretely. According to the analyses on the U.S. economy, society and the situation of higher education during the period of World War II and the responses of U.S. government, the development of new changes in U.S. higher education after World War II, the author describes the impact of World War II upon the massification process of American higher education.The third part researches the impact of post-war environments upon the massification of American higher education separately from two aspects: the international environments and domestic environments. The author first analyzes the victory of the concept of democracy held by the United States to fascism in some countries, the stimulation of Soviet satellite events under Cold War environments, and the international environments struggling for the hegemony between U.S. and USSR, it analyses the impact of these international environments upon the massification of American higher education. And then it analyses the impact of post-war domestic environments upon the massification of American higher education from economics, demographic, employment and social situations.Part IV summarizes the impact of World War II and post-war environments upon the massification of American higher education from three aspects in order to set its historical orientation.The conclusion part analyses the deep-seated reasons for the impact of World War II and post-war environments could significantly influnce the massification of American higher education. It concludes four aspects: the rapid and effective intervention of the federal government in higher education, the strong adaptability of American higher education, the concept of democracy prevailing in the United States and the need for the rapid economic growth after World War II in the United States. Finally it concludes that, the realization of American mass higher education in the mid-1970s could only be achieved with the joint action of internal and external factors, it is certain that the realization of mass higher education in the United States is inseparable from the external impact of World War II and post-war environments.