John Burkhardt

National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good

Since its founding in 2000, the National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good has striven to "increase awareness, understanding, commitment, and action in support of higher education's public service mission" (Burkhardt, Pasque, Bowman & Martinez, 2009, p. xiii). The goal of founder John Burkhardt and his colleagues is to facilitate this awareness and understanding through research, which demonstrates how higher education creates vibrant and knowledgeable citizens. The National Forum is affiliated with the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education and the University of Michigan. Through our work we want to promote greater awareness, understanding, commitment and action in support of the ways that higher education serves our diverse democracy. This mission is expressed in a wide range of programs and activities that focus on student opportunity, community engagement, state and federal policy, and the relationship between the public, private and philanthropic sectors in furthering an educated and just society.