Demographic trends promise to force sweeping changes on postsecondary higher education, particularly the inevitable steady decline in 18-year-olds and the birthrate decline since the early 1960's in the white middle class. The decline in public confidence in American institutions is also a factor to be considered in educational planning. In planning new delivery systems for postsecondary education, the issue of credentials (licensing and accreditation) will be significant. An agenda for improving postsecondary education is proposed by the director of the National Institute of Education. It includes: (1) revisions in evaluation systems to reward a variety of talents in students; (2) cessation of the use of credit hours generated per faculty FTE as the only measure of educational productivity; (3) allowance by state agencies for flexible planning by institutions serving adult part-time learners; (4) consideration of alternative uses of educational facilities; (5) attention to the needs of various ethnic groups and social classes; (6) coordination between higher education institutions and noncollegiate institutions; and (7) definitions and effectiveness of degrees themselves. (LBH)