Paul Tough
Bestselling author of How Children Succeed, Helping Children Succeed, and The Years That Matter Most
The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us
Does college still work? Is the system designed just to protect the privileged and leave everyone else behind? Or can a college education today provide real opportunity to young Americans? New York Times bestselling author Paul Tough’s new book The Years That Matter Most delivers fresh, fascinating insight on how the American system of colleges and universities helps and hinders young people, especially low-income and first-generation students.
Mr. Tough tells the stories of students trying to find their way, with hope, joy, and frustration, through the application process and into college. Drawing on new research, and on dozens of in-depth visits to college campuses across the country, the book reveals how the landscape of higher education has shifted in recent decades and exposes the hidden truths of how the system works and for whom. And it introduces the people who really make higher education go: admissions directors trying to balance the class and balance the budget, College Board officials scrambling to defend the SAT in the face of mounting evidence that it favors the wealthy, researchers working to unlock the mysteries of the college-student brain, and educators trying to transform potential dropouts into successful graduates.
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