It is contended that future prospects for higher education are brighter than many anticipate. Political inertia acts to keep public spending near previous levels, and even during "down periods" educational resources seldom decline. (Author/PHR)

Models for university planning must adapt to the political process of decision making, and to the structures and priorities of each institution. In this regard, the limitations of conventional models are discussed, and an approach to model-building that emphasizes institution-specific devices is described and applied to the University of…

The development and outcomes of recent state efforts in California to limit adult education growth in the community colleges are examined. Although the resulting legislation curtailed further expansion of adult education, institutional pressure and continued public support prevented substantial reductions. (Author/LBH)

Twenty socioeconomic, environmental, and political variables are examined regarding their relationships to state and local appropriations for 1960 and 1969. Comparative input-output policy analysis methodology and a new statistical approach combining correlation and regression analyses are utilized. (Editor/LBH)

This survey of 331 institutions of higher education found that attributes of the postindustrial environment--scarcity of resources, competitiveness, and turbulence--are negatively associated with the effectiveness of four-year colleges and universities. Participative decision making, domain offense strategies, and political decision processes…

An analysis of the federal Stafford Student Loan Program summarizes its successes, limitations, and numerous problems and explains why reform has not yet occurred. A policy stalemate in Congress, lack of a well-developed reform alternative, and newly professionalized and mobilized interest groups are seen as making change unlikely. (Author/MSE)

Nine characteristics thought desirable in the design of internal budgetary processes for state-funded institutions of higher education during a period of declining resources are presented. Characteristics are devised to deal with minimizing delay and conflict, and the politics of the budgetary process. (Author/MLW)

A study used ethnographic methods to investigate the experience of gay and bisexual male college students from the perspective of subculture. Subjects (32 undergraduate and eight graduate students at a research university) were interviewed by telephone. Four students are profiled, and commonalities in their experiences and points of tension (gay…

Examination of data from a 25-year period at the University of California shows disproportionate growth in expenditures for administration relative to instruction. Factors accounting for administrative growth are discussed, as are the contradictory pressures on the university to adapt to environmental complexity and political economic demands…

In this study, quantitative and qualitative methods were used to identify factors that best explain variations in state appropriations for Carnegie Public Research I Universities during the late 1990s. A combination of cultural, political, and institutional factors emerged as critical elements accounting for differences in support including…

Adoption of the Higher Education Act Amendments of 1992 formalized a significant shift in federal financial aid policy from grants to loans. A case study of the federal policy-making process and the effects of incremental and fragmented decision making, this legislation illustrates how shifts in the power of actors and constraints in the…

The relationship between state/provincial governments and universities in Canada and the United States is discussed, focusing on state coordination of public universities. Salient cultural and political differences between the two countries are examined in the context of a theory that differences stem from organizing principles growing out of the…

A case study of the Eisenhower College legislation of 1974 follows the legislation from its inception in May 1970, to final enactment by Congress in December 1975, and through the administrative problems that resulted in the college's closing in July 1982. (Author/MLW)

In Western Europe, the advent of higher education as a self-sustaining field of research began two decades ago. The place of higher education research in academia, government policy formulation, and the type of inquiry undertaken in Sweden in comparison with counterparts in France and Britain are examined. (Author/MLW)

In the U.S. Congress, attention to scientific fraud and misconduct has involved extensive use of oversight authority. Because scientists and universities have failed to respond promptly to calls for self-regulation, Congress has imposed formal regulations and favors increased scrutiny of research and a reassessment of university-government-science…