The National University Extension Association (NUEA) was formed in 1915 by 21 colleges and universities--state, land grant, and independent. From its inception, the organization moved rapidly to codify academic formats, operational procedures, and administrative structures for extension education based upon prevailing models found within traditional academia. At the same time, NUEA espoused a view of the field of continuing higher education that was specialized, institutionally. Therefore, NUEA excluded from membership most university-level schools, even when the continuing education programs of these institutions were comparable and, in some cases, considered superior. During the period from 1915 to 1923, standardization of practice and universality in membership were viewed as incompatible goals for the NUEA. Impetus was thereby given to the formation of alternative organizations within continuing higher education representing other types of institutions, such as teachers' colleges. (Appendixes include nine references and a listing of the NUEA founding institutions.) (Author/YLB)