A few key trends in higher education and the current federal philosophy of support to higher education are addressed. It is noted that higher education is becoming increasingly accessible to all segments of the population and that increasing numbers of students put priority on learning skills they need for employment rather than on a general education. More people beyond the usual college age of the late teens and early twenties are enrolling in postsecondary education, and the idea of lifelong education has spread. Federal efforts have been concentrated on equalizing opportunity, improving the quality and relevance of education, and providing limited general support to state and local education agencies, developing postsecondary institutions, and adult and vocational education. The financial plight of higher education and the impact of inflation is discussed, as illustrated most starkly by the small private liberal arts colleges in the U.S. Variables that will affect the future of higher education are seen as the federal education policy, the economy, the nature of society, and ethnicity and social class. (LBH)