Rebel with a Cause: The Entrepreneur Who Created the University of Phoenix and the For-Profit Revolution in Higher Education

Born to a Missouri sharecropping couple, John Sperling discovered books at sea as a merchant marine. He returned to college and earned a doctorate from Cambridge, but found academic life too stifling. Driven by a vision of a new for-profit university that would offer adults a second chance at higher education, he returned to America and, aged 52, created the University of Phoenix. Less than 25 years later, Phoenix is the largest university in America. This book tells the story of Sperling's astounding success. It relates a dramatic personal success story, from merchant marine to academic professor and business entrepreneur, and offers insights into the unique strategies that have made the University of Phoenix an academic and stock market success. Sperling expounds his erudite views on self-funding universities, examining the intersection of business and education policy.

Author: Sperling
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Published: 10/18/2000
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.18lbs
Size: 9.31h x 6.34w x 0.95d
ISBN: 9780471326045

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 11/15/1999 pg. 1796
Booklist 12/15/1999 pg. 744
Library Journal 01/01/2000 pg. 130