532 Copyright © 2017, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 21 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0672-0.ch021 ABSTRACT A brief historical overview of the evolution of the public discourse of the purpose of higher education is undertaken to provide context for current debates over investment in, and reform of, post-secondary education. Four separate discourses are identified: higher education for enlightenment, to develop hu- man capital, as manpower management, and as consumerism. The dominant discourse of the purpose of higher education is shown to have changed from learning for its own sake to an emphasis on manpower planning and consumerism. The separate assumptions and implications of these distinct discourses are often confabulated with little apparent awareness of the contradictory nature of rhetoric drawn from more than one discourse at a time. The authors provide a simple analytical framework to cut through the confusion. INTRODUCTION There is frequently a disconnect between research and public policy in the field of higher education (Hillman, Tandberg & Sponsler, 2015). Researchers need to ensure that their research is relevant to public policy, or risk speaking only to themselves. By the same token, policy-makers need to ensure that decision-making is evidence-based or risk making costly mistakes based on faulty assumptions. When addressing fundamental issues, both researchers and policy-makers start from the values and assump- tions implicit within the dominant discourse(s) of the purpose of higher education. Understanding how this public discourse has changed over time is, then, fundamental to any analysis of either research or policy trends. The Evolving Discourse of the Purpose of Higher Education: The Rhetoric of Higher Education Reform Mary Runté University of Lethbridge Alberta, Canada Robert Runté University of Lethbridge Alberta, Canada