Discussed is the difficulty encountered in teaching humanities to underprepared students at Florida A & M University, where 90 percent of the students are in the special admissions category that permits enrollment of students who score below the entrance requirement. Administrative neglect of the humanities is also addressed. (JMD)

David Breneman's "The Coming Enrollment Crisis: What Every Trustee Must Know" is discussed by Wharton, L. Edward Allemand, Barbara S. Uehling, Irving J. Spitzberg, Jr., Oscar E. Remick, Thomas V. Litzenburg, Jr., and John W. Pocock. Implications for reversals of social and political policy, student retention, developing compensatory…

The liberal consensus that has shaped national education policy is seen as succumbing to dubious ideas and undesirable practices. Issues discussed include: educational equity, equality and quality; measures of educational achievement; accountability; "need" and ability; statism and monoply, pluralism and diversity; federal role; and…

Good teaching will help people learn to speak and listen in the community of truth, to understand that truth is not in the conclusions so much as the process of conversation itself. Fear of public conflict is a major barrier to creating spaces where the community of truth can be practiced. (MLW)

An institution devoted to education must do its best to study the learning process and to assess the effects of its programs. Without such critical self-examination, no endeavor can make sustained progress. An excerpt from the book "Higher Learning" by Derek Bok is presented. (MLW)

Public v private competition for students and ways that institutions and policymakers should deal with it are discussed. Private institutions vulnerable to competition from the public sector, how private institutions can survive, the tuition gap, and planning policies of public higher education are described. (MLW)

How to identify and measure educational quality pervades American education. The Higher Education Research Institute and the Council on Learning launched a study to identify broad quality indicators, particularly at the undergraduate level. Peer groups and indices of selectivity are among the facets used to measure quality of education. (MLW)

The full data set on which the "U.S. News and World Report" rankings of doctoral programs were based is presented and discussed. Rankings are for economics, English, history, political science, psychology, and sociology programs. Discussion addresses the methodology used and makes comparisons with National Academy of Sciences 1982…

Ten higher education professionals and one college senior comment on the "U.S. News and World Report" rankings of doctoral programs in six liberal arts disciplines. The authors' response to one set of comments and the comments of an executive editor from the magazine are also included. (MSE)

Commentary on a National Commission on Student Financial Assistance report examines: federal role in graduate education, reauthorizing the Higher Education Act of 1965, restoring university research in science and technology, redefining graduate education, transition to an information society, excellence and the graduate student. (MLW)

The head of a research university studio art program outlines the potential benefits and challenges associated with maintaining a first-rate program. Problems include high costs, a faculty merit review system, lack of faculty socialization to university norms or participation in campus affairs, lack of leadership incentives, a patronage mentality,…

Efforts and concerns addressed in the very recent, rapid revitalization of China's higher education are discussed, including virtual cessation of education during the Cultural Revolution, students in the postCultural Revolution, instructional television, part-time and factory education for workers, youth unemployment, and academic quality. (MSE)