In an examination of the need for expansion in Nigeria's higher education, past trends are examined in the context of current efforts to keep up with the high demand. Finance is found to be the ultimate and critical determinant of the growth of the university system. (MSE)

Cost-benefit analysis is used to illustrate current thinking about academic program review and analysis. It indicates that, at the margin, some important benefits of doctoral education have been understated and marginal costs exaggerated. It is suggested that program review choices are best left to the institutions. (MSE)

Despite expansion in participation, Austrian higher education remains somewhat elitist. However, concepts of efficiency, strategic planning, deregulation, and performance evaluation are creating pressure for policy change. Inadequate admissions policies, overcrowding, and high dropout rates need to be addressed. (Author/MSE)

Because of recent demographic and technological changes, traditionally stable educational organizations are experiencing high levels of uncertainty and decreases in productivity. To combat disfunctional consequences of change, many institutions have adopted myopic and piecemeal decision-making processes that need to be changed for systematic…

An account is given of quantitative development of the German universities in the last two decades and of their relationship with the labor market. Organizational changes following the federal educational reform law of 1976 are reviewed, and some aspects of research into the problems of higher education are examined. (MSE)

A recently completed major study into the future of British higher education is an impressive analytical effort but may be criticized for its openness to bargaining and policy advocacy and for neglecting to outline a range of available options and to clearly spell out major value tradeoffs involved in the options. (MSE)

The role of Great Britain's Council for National Academic Awards in relation to other government agencies concerned with the quality of public colleges is discussed, and the public sector's course review process is compared to that of the universities. (Author/MSE)

In the early 1970s the Danish Parliament passed legislation that radically altered the governing structure of Danish universities. The causes that brought about the legislation are described and the ways in which Danish academics have responded and adapted to the new system are analyzed. (Author/MLW)

Discusses effects of British methods of resource allocation to the colonial universities on the methods used by the successor states, primarily for Ghana and Nigeria, in terms of the national governments' announced intentions and beliefs. Concludes that although the West African systems are similar to the British system, they are very much local…

University autonomy in Australia is examined: why institutional independence is important, how it has eroded since the late 1960s, factors leading to the erosion, and possible university responses. Concern is expressed about the universities' ability to withstand further government encroachment. (MSE)

The problems facing universities because of external pressures for changes in their teaching, research, and governance and management policies and practices to align them with public policies are discussed. Examples of these external pressures are provided in the context of general system theory. (Author/MLW)

Realistic previews are suggested for two major career transitions: the entry from high school to college and university and the transition from university to the world of work. Newcomers often hold unrealistic expectations of their jobs and the organization; the preview is meant to provide better preparation for appropriate choices. (Author/MLW)

When the OECD was established in 1961, one of its main concerns was technological progress. Equality and economic growth have been the cornerstones of OECD's work on educational policy. OECD gave enormous impetus to the intellectual development of educational policy studies and to the organization of educational planning for expansion. (MLW)

The Hong Kong University and Polytechnic Grants Committee both reflects the uniqueness of Hong Kong's situation and is inhibited by it. Its academic members are all from overseas, which limits collective discussion and affects its reliance on a local secretariat that acts as a de facto department of higher education. (MSE)

A discussion of issues and considerations in planning for the opening of distance education institutions in developing and developed nations draws on the experience of recently established institutions and looks at government involvement, the political process, and the role, composition, schedule, and reports of planning committees. (MSE)