Recent legal developments concerning college students and their institutions are reviewed, with a focus on constitutional issues related to the rights of students to organize, the collection and allocation of mandatory student activity fees, and the protection of freedom of speech regarding commercial enterprises. In addition to considering the status of educational malpractice, implications for policy and practice are addressed. Four student-institutional relationships are traced historically: in loco parentis, fiduciary, contractual, and constitutional. Issues concerning the evolution of constitutional rights in higher education include individual rights, due process, privacy rights, and First Amendment rights. Attention is also directed to several rights of association and their effect on the recognition of religious and gay organizations and on regulations governing use of facilities. Religious and political objections concerning the use of mandatory student activity fees are covered, along with methods of fee collection. Also discussed are: the boundaries of constitutional protection for noncommercial and commercial speech and extensions to the college campus; and malpractice theory and the courts' position in educational malpractice. Ten pages of general and legal references as well as an index are provided. (SW)