The college tour, in which the group crossed the country visiting major universities and junior colleges, was conceived by Brubeck's wife Iola as a way to introduce jazz to a new audience.[4] Brubeck described encountering resistance at the colleges, some of which were reluctant to allow him to perform, but found following initial forays that the quartet was in much demand.[4] As the quartet traveled across the country, he told the Jazz Education Journal, they would play as many as 90 colleges in a four-month period.[4]
"Take the 'A' Train" has straightforward blows by Desmond and forceful interjections by Dodge.[2] "The Song Is You" showcases Desmond's lithe phrasing.[2] The quartet's reading of "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" expands on Brubeck's bluesy piano with an austere arrangement.[2] The final phrase of "I Want to Be Happy" exemplifies the quartet's energetic performance with a dramatic conclusion.[2]
Following the album's release, the quartet was featured on the cover of Time magazine, with the accompanying article describing Brubeck as "the most exciting new jazz artist at work today".[7]Jazz Goes to College enjoyed widespread popularity among college students in the 1950s and early 1960s.[8] It was Columbia's fourth-best-selling pop album of 1954.[9]
In a retrospective five-star review, Allmusic's Lindsay Planer called the album a "perfect representation of the Dave Brubeck Quartet's pre-Time Out (1959) antics in the preferable concert performance setting", and wrote that the quartet's "support of Brubeck is uniformly flawless, ultimately producing what many consider as the most memorable music in the artist's cannon."[2] Samuel Chell of All About Jazz viewed it as an "essential recording" of "Brubeck-Desmond's greatest period, before the comparatively sterile, more formulaic studio albums, including Time Out, and found the music "soulful, in the moment, unrepeatable", writing that "the swing is generated internally and, rather than the body responding with visceral approval, the mind rocks and reels."[10]Robert Christgau, writing for MSN Music, applauded Paul Desmond's contributions and said that, particularly on the album's standards, he is "at his lyrical best". Christgau complimented Brubeck's "blocky" solos because, "in rhythm music, blocky generally beats tinkly."[3]
