This book chapter describes the individual benefits of higher education, the individuals who have access to them, and how the benefits are conferred. It discusses why and how higher education has expanded and whether such expansion has resulted in more equal outcomes. It also discusses the educational and social policies that foster greater equality in both higher education and society.
This chapter appeared in Higher Education and the Color Line (Harvard Educational Publishing Group), edited by Gary Orfield, Patricia Marin, and Catherine Horn.
