ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the shifts in the roles and aims of higher education institutions, on either side of the Atlantic, since the 1960s. In the US, expansion took off after World War II, increased markedly during the 1960s and peaked during the 1980s, largely due to government legislation, such as the Higher Education Act 1965. Accordingly, the functions or the missions of Anglo-American higher education institutions have altered. The last significant increase in students was due to New Labour governmental policy to boost the number of university places and the proportion of young people entering some form of higher education. The Russell Group is the most prestigious and elitist mission group positioning itself as representing the top research-intensive universities. Students at Russell Group and Ivy League universities are overwhelmingly middle class and in the UK a substantial proportion have been educated at private schools.
