Richard P. Keeling leads Keeling & Associates, LLC, a comprehensive higher education consulting practice based in New York City. Dr. Keeling serves on the Board of Directors of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) and has been president of four professional organizations in higher education. Before creating Keeling & Associates, Dr. Keeling was both a tenured faculty member and a senior student affairs administrator at the University of Virginia and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Richard H. Hersh has served as President of Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Trinity College (Hartford), and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at The University of New Hampshire and Drake University. He also served as Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Oregon and was Director of the Center for Moral Education at Harvard University. In his early career he was a high school teacher, professor and dean of teacher education.

America is being held back by the quality and quantity of learning in college. This is a true educational emergency! Many college graduates cannot think critically, write effectively, solve problems, understand complex issues, or meet employers' expectations. We are losing our minds--and endangering our social, economic, and scientific leadership. Critics say higher education costs too much and should be more efficient. But the real problem is value, not cost; financial 'solutions' alone won't work. In this book, Keeling and Hersh argue that the only solution - making learning the highest priority in college - demands fundamental change throughout higher education.