BUSINESS SCHOOL IN THE CORPORATION OF HIGHER LEARNING IN THE USA

In The Higher Learning in America, Veblen speculated on the prospects of the schools of commerce within the American university. Specifically he postulated that (a) instruction in the field of commercial training may all into a more rigidly drawn curriculum, that diverges from the ways of scientific inquiry (b) the college of commerce would divert funds from legitimate university uses, (c) create a bias hostile to scholarly and scientific work and (d) train graduates who would have better skills to predate on the community. The Higher Learning in America is an extension of his economics and was meant to be a warning about the cumulative effect of the conduct of universities by business principles. This paper summarizes the Veblenian approach used to question the legitimacy of the business school in the modern university. The goal is to promote a re-consideration of the role of the business school with respect to a Veblenian analysis.