No matter what social goals or federal laws exist, it will be a long time before the informal social environment in America's male-dominated colleges and universities will serve women students as well as men, suggests the president of Smith College. Until then "for women only" institutions are needed. (Author/LBH)

A Ford Foundation data collection project offers tangible proof of the continued viability of women's colleges. Women's colleges have a positive effect on intellectual self-esteem and women are more likely to attain positions of leadership, to become involved in student government, to develop high aspirations, and to persist to graduation. (MLW)

The establishment of Kirkland College as the first independent women's college founded in the East since 1926 is reviewed with focus on its merger in 1978 into its parent institution, Hamilton College. Financial problems are cited and extreme differences in campus outlook are discussed. (LBH)

Princeton's women students have adapted to a world of highly competitive males but a need has been found to provide services to help them in an atmosphere and society where male values predominate. (Author/LBH)

Nannerl Overhouser Keohane, one of a new breed of women presidents of women's colleges, is strongly committed to feminist scholarship and is also working to prepare Wellesley's graduates for the technology of the future. The role of minority students at Wellesley is discussed. (MLW)

Mount Holyoke College was examined to see how it manages itself, how it raises and spends money. Holyoke's president understood that, in a competitive age, the key was not so much educating as it was positioning. Marketing and price fixing are discussed. (MLW)

Three recent books ("In the Company of Women,""Alma Mater," and "Women in College") focus on very different but interrelated topics: the general history of women in higher education in America, the history of women's colleges, and the shaping of women's identities through higher education. (MSE)

The state of education in Saudi Arabia is reviewed in this brief analysis of the country's growth. Considered are the single-sex institutions, enrollment trends at the university level, faculty shortages, campus expansion, and religious influences. (LBH)

Patterns emerging in a trend toward increased enrollment in private colleges are examined, focusing on the relationship of size, selectivity, location, women's colleges, historically Black colleges, and enrollment change. (MSE)

Alverno College, a Catholic liberal arts college for women with an enrollment of 1,100, instituted competency-based learning in 1973. Subsequent problems as well as benefits are addressed, along with a review of student and faculty attitudes toward the program and the school's president. (LBH)

Wheaton College, a small liberal arts college for women, has begun integrating women's experiences into the mainstream of learning, to bring a gender-balanced perspective to the traditional liberal arts. A project funded by a grant from the Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education is described. (MLW)

According to a national study, many recent policy changes in American higher education have not only failed to enhance educational programs but have contributed to their deterioration. Focus is on the expansion of the public sector, the shift toward larger institutions, the eclipse of single-sex colleges, public community colleges, deemphasis on…

In a seven year period, Fisher Junior College has shown spectacular growth as a program in continuing education directed to veterans. The college offered an education that in two years prepared students for the job market and gave them the skills to seek employment successfully. (MLW)

A program officer at the Ford Foundation traces her experiences as student and "young trustee" at Vassar, graduate student at Columbia University during the early '70s, and teacher at Staten Island Community College. The challenge of diversity that she encountered in the '70s is seen as still prevalent today. (MLW)