Explores why, as the higher education community shifts its focus from "access" to "access to what?," new maps--language and conceptions--are needed to help institutional leaders and policymakers update what is known about institutional structures and practices. (EV)

Assessment is intended to raise in value what the public gets for the dollars it invests in education, not to raise new dollars for educational institutions. To many people within universities, assessment is perceived as a threat. Ways to reduce anxiety that comes with assessment are discussed. (MLW)

Economic factors in education are among the important causes of poor student performance. The time that students must work to support themselves has increased greatly to the extent that students are stretched thin between their desire to graduate as rapidly as possible and their need to have an income. (MLW)

A new two-track system of higher education is being laid down in the U.S., suggests this vice-president of the Danforth Foundation. The two tracks are occupied by institutions that are narrowly academic or traditional, and by those that may be described as broadly educational or nontraditional. The differences and implications of the trends are…

A key to the movement toward open access to higher education has been the growth of public community colleges, which are reexamining their priorities, resources, and missions. The need for "people's colleges" to reconcile their concern for quality with their commitment to open access is discussed. (MLW)

The Higher Education Research Program, 19 educational practitioners invited by The Pew Charitable Trusts to help take stock of higher education's strengths and weaknesses, its challenges and opportunities, is discussed. Three principal issues facing higher education include costs, the quality of teaching and learning, and making higher education…

The phenomenal growth of distance-learning programs and the possibility of a virtual university have increased concerns about how to ensure that higher education programs delivered via telecommunications are of good quality. The Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications has formulated guidelines, presented here, for…

The current emphasis on excellence, it is suggested, is used as an excuse to exclude. The more people who are educated, the greater the possibility that collective decisions will be of better quality. Higher education must become more open and more inclusive. (MLW)

A three-year case study of education at "Oakwood Community College," an anonymous urban institution with an open access admissions policy, is described. What is happening to the students at open-access institutions, their learning styles, their objectives, their behavior, and whether these students are serviced or taught is discussed.…

The emerging policies of federal disengagement offer state leaders the opportunity to reassert the constitutional primacy of the states in providing higher education opportunities. Several proposals for action by Virginia's governor are presented, including improvement of educational standards by raising admission requirements and state…

Some thoughts on higher education in the 1980s are presented. The commitments made to higher education by Congress have included: education accessible to those likely to be excluded either by economic or physical disadvantage, research, support of institutions of culture, and strengthening of international studies. (MLW)

While the primary issue in the future of college student financial aid, pertaining especially to the role of the College Scholarship Service, is fairness in awarding aid in the context of extreme college aid competition, other issues include college quality and choice, who should pay for education, parental responsibility, educational…

The national politics of American education have clustered around four major issues: the federal effort on behalf of minorities, the poor, and other disadvantaged groups; the national politics of private and religious schools; the quality of schooling as a concern of the federal government; and educational strategies for the government. (MLW)

Four books are reviewed including: "Fostering Minority Access and Achievement in Higher Education" (a Ford Foundation study by Richard Richardson and Lewis Bender); "In Pursuit of Equality in Higher Education" (Anne Pruitt); "Latino College Students" (Michael Olivas); and "Toward Undergraduate Student Quality in…

Educational reform by Miami-Dade Community College is discussed by its president, Robert H. McCabe. In an action that is considered unusual for two-year schools, it has tightened controls on its curriculum, faculty, and students. A commitment to achieving higher levels of literacy is advocated. (MLW)