The Uses of the University

Overview

The Uses of the University is Clark Kerr’s analysis of the modern research university as a “multiversity”: not one coherent community with a single end, but a large institution serving teaching, research, government, industry, professions, regions, and many internal constituencies.

Author and Context

Kerr delivered the original Godkin Lectures in 1963 while president of the University of California. Mass enrollment, federal research funding, the Cold War, and economic demand for expertise were transforming U.S. higher education.

Central Argument

The modern university cannot be understood through an ideal of a small residential community alone. Its multiple purposes and power centers must be governed rather than wished away. Knowledge has become a central economic resource, drawing universities into extensive external relationships.

Key Ideas

The multiversity is plural, administratively complex, and held together through negotiated interests. Teaching and research coexist with service, credentialing, and regional development. The university president becomes mediator among constituencies rather than sole intellectual leader.

Why It Matters

Kerr’s descriptive realism became a standard reference for higher-education studies. Critics argue that it normalizes bureaucracy, corporate influence, military research, and fragmentation rather than defending a normative purpose. The book’s value is diagnostic: before reformers announce what a university ought to be, they must understand the institutions, incentives, and dependencies it has become.