The Department of Education's announcement of new policy concerning the evaluation of college desegregation efforts could affect the monitoring of compliance in several states in which court-ordered desegregation plans have expired. The higher standards are based on the 1992 Supreme Court ruling, United States v. Fordice. (MSE)

A plan for all of the state of Maryland's 13 public colleges and universities to be included in the University of Maryland System is discussed. The system would be governed by a board of regents, and each college would have a board of trustees to monitor campus issues. (MLW)

A committee studying Texas higher education has withdrawn a controversial proposal to merge institutions, instead adopting a broad set of principles for higher education and specific recommendations for state colleges and universities. The objective is to improve education during state economic decline due to falling oil prices. (MSE)

A Missouri proposal that parents be allowed to set up special savings accounts for their children's college education that would be exempt from state income tax is described. It is compared to a plan in Michigan that allows parents to prepay tuition at colleges in the state. (MLW)

A federal appeals court has ruled that there are legitimate reasons a state can operate a single-sex college, provided appropriate programs exist for men and women. Virginia Military Institute provides "adversative" education, grueling physical training without privacy, that would suffer if women were admitted. A proposed separate…

The new chancellors of the Maine, Massachusetts, and West Virginia state higher education systems use different styles to tackle highly political jobs that frustrated their predecessors. (MSE)

A highly divided federal appeals court has ordered that South Carolina allow a woman to enter the Citadel, an all-male military college, unless it establishes a comparable program for women or allows the Citadel to become a private institution. Litigation arose over the Citadel's rejection of a woman applicant. (MSE)

The California Legislature approved a bill to reform the state's community-college system by transferring most of the Legislature's power over the colleges to the state board that coordinates their governance. The bill also makes major changes in the colleges financing, the courses they offer, and the tenure process. (MLW)

A federal court ruled that the Justice Department had failed to prove that Alabama's public colleges and universities were segregated. The Justice Department had argued that the entire state system was segregated, instead of offering evidence that specific programs receiving federal money had violated the anti-bias laws. (MLW)

Serving as a special master of a federal court, Paul R. Verkuil, the president of the College of William and Mary, developed a plan to integrate Louisiana's colleges. A governance structure, ending racial characteristics of historically Black colleges, and a quota for Black membership on the governing board are proposed. (MLW)

A federal district judge ruled that state officials failed to demonstrate the need to close Mississippi Valley State University and merge Mississippi University for Women with Mississippi State University to meet desegregation requirements. He ordered Mississippi to provide additional funds to two other black colleges, and approved a state plan…

A federal judge has ordered Alabama's two public, historically black universities to enroll more whites as part of a statewide effort to reduce racial segregation in public colleges. Critics are offended by the judge's comments that the colleges' black heritage discourages white enrollment. The ruling also contained some more welcome results,…

A new survey by the Virginia Council of Higher Education found that five states have imposed a ceiling on the number of out-of-state students who can attend their public institutions. Many people fear that their own state students are being denied admission because of nonresident applicants. (MLW)

Department of Education issuance of reports on the status of 10 states' court-ordered college desegregation without any evaluation of the states' efforts has disappointed civil-rights activists. The unexpected release of the reports was due in part to the threat of Congressional subpoena of the information. (MSE)

At a conference sponsored by the Oklahoma governor and state legislature, educators and politicians met to define goals for the college system. Colleges were urged to: meet the needs of nontraditional, older students, increase involvement with the public schools, recruit minority faculty, and better educate those involved in governance. (MLW)