Public higher education in the U.S. is filled with uncertainty, and institutions themselves – not just external socioeconomic forces – play a key role in producing and amplifying risk for students. This is the case made by “Degrees of Risk,” an ethnographic study of public university students, focused on how insecurity and precarity intertwine in the student experience. The book is based primarily on 104 interviews with a diverse group of students at a large public research university and includes institutional observations and interviews with college administrators.

Rather than treating risk and uncertainty as external forces, the author, Blake R. Silver, argues that institutions — through their policies, organizational structures, and cultural expectations — play a key role in amplifying or mitigating student insecurity. “Degrees of Risk” examines how students from diverse backgrounds experience higher education differently, and how inequality is reinforced depending on how they navigate those risks.

Review by Dr. JoEllen Price, dean of financial aid and scholarships, San Jacinto College.

The book’s strength lies in its qualitative methodology, which uses interviews and institutional observation to explore how students from diverse backgrounds experience the tradeoffs inherent in course selection, major choice, funding, course modalities, and familial obligations. Silver’s typology of student strategies — risk minimizers, opportunity maximizers, insulated explorers, and precarious pioneers — offers a clear and effective framework for analyzing how inequality persists even when students appear to have access to the same institutional opportunities.

Ethnographic research uses observation and interaction to understand behaviors and beliefs. While the book’s qualitative depth brings clarity and empathy to students' experiences, the lack of quantitative data and comparisons across different institutions limits the broad applicability of its findings. It is unclear how well the patterns Silver identifies in his case study of a public university apply to other types of institutions, such as community colleges, elite private universities, or underfunded rural campuses.

Additionally, while Silver offers thoughtful suggestions for how universities can better support students, his recommendations at times assume that institutions have the resources and political support to implement such changes. Factors like limited funding, complex governance structures, and restrictive policy mandates often constrain what public universities can realistically achieve — challenges the book does not always fully address.

By concentrating on institutional practices, such as decentralized advising, hard-to-access student services, and flexibility without adequate guidance, Silver may underemphasize broader external forces. Larger systemic issues, like economic downturns, labor market instability, and long-term state disinvestment in public higher education, also play a critical role in shaping the student experience and institutional capacity. Although Silver acknowledges these external factors, his analysis is strongest when focused on internal university structures. A more balanced approach that deeply engages with these broader economic and political dynamics could strengthen the overall argument and provide a fuller picture of the challenges students face.

While the typologies are analytically useful, they risk oversimplifying student experiences by presenting the categories as more fixed than they may be in reality. Students may shift between strategies or occupy a mix of categories depending on their changing circumstances, such as access to resources or personal crises. Although Silver acknowledges that students can move between categories, parts of the narrative may unintentionally suggest that these identities are more stable and distinct than they are in students’ actual lives.

Silver addresses a central concern in contemporary higher education regarding how students’ socioeconomic, racial, and familial backgrounds interact with institutional structures to shape unequal experiences of insecurity. In an era where cost pressures, student debt, labor market volatility, and rapid shifts in pedagogy are everyday realities, this book exposes how choice and flexibility can function as sources of uncertainty rather than empowerment. His ethnographic study connects broad critiques of higher education, such as funding cuts and neoliberal policy shifts, with the everyday experiences of students navigating risk and uncertainty.

The book offers valuable insight for scholars, administrators, and policymakers aiming to make colleges more equitable. It provides both a diagnostic lens, highlighting where and how student insecurity emerges, and practical guidance on what kinds of institutional support and structural changes could help reduce it. The book has the potential to contribute to wider conversations about access, retention, and equity in higher education. It also challenges the assumption that all students benefit equally from student-centered reforms, showing that such initiatives often overlook the unequal resources and constraints students bring with them.

“Degrees of Risk” paints a picture of higher education in the U.S. as less like a protective bubble shielding students from danger and more like a minefield of small and large uncertainties. The argument is that for many students, especially those lacking financial, cultural, or institutional resources, college is fraught with risk, and decisions once thought of as optional or flexible feel like casino gambles. Flexibility and choice, often held up as the gold standard, can in practice shift burden and risk onto students.

The core message is that universities and policymakers should more explicitly acknowledge and structure for risk. That means reducing the unknown, improving visibility of support, and aligning institutional practices so that risk is more equally shared and better managed. For students who do not arrive with success factors (financial, family support, or advising guidance), this can make a difference in their ability to succeed.

"Degrees of Risk: Navigating Insecurity and Inequality in Public Higher Education," by Blake R. Silver, University of Chicago Press, August 12, 2024, pp. 246.

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Dr. JoEllen Price is dean of financial aid at San Jacinto College, with a 37-year career spanning six institutions across four states. She previously served for 10 years as executive director of financial aid at Houston Community College and has held leadership roles, including assistant vice president of enrollment management, interim director of institutional research, registrar, and vice president of operations at a financial aid consulting firm. A NASFAA-certified financial aid administrator, she has completed all 16 NASFAA credentials. Dr. Price holds a doctorate in education, two master’s degrees, and a bachelor’s in business. She is committed to expanding access to higher education and eliminating financial barriers for students.

Publication Date: 12/18/2025

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