Factors that distinguish the United States higher education system and its performance are considered, with attention to new developments, propsects for change, undergraduate education, and professional schools (especially law, business, and medicine). The way universities change the methods and content of their teaching in response to new…

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)