From an institutional perspective, the competition for the minds and the dollars of the public is best met with sharply focused missions. Major problems are identified: program quality, program costs, competitiveness, and changing markets of consumers seeking postsecondary educational services. (MLW)

Excerpts of the 1980 Democratic Party platform dealing with education are presented, along with the complete text of the education section of the Republican Party platform. (LB)

British prime minister Margaret Thatcher's policies for higher education in Britain are compared with the influences of Ronald Reagan and Jerry Brown on California's higher education history. (MSE)

The ascendancy of Jimmy Carter may herald a new direction in American education, suggests a former secretary of HEW, who explains what that direction should be. (Editor/LBH)

Recent issues in higher education suggest that universities are on the defensive, and that the educational community will be better served by trying to set a new agenda with the public. Two topics for this agenda are offered: the loss of a common perspective and the relationship of people to institutions. (LBH)

Recent policy changes and conflicts within Australian higher education hold some lessons for other countries. States are encouraged to take an active and early role in planning to avoid confusion, especially by beginning planning before budget cuts are taken. (MSE)

The credibility of social science research suffers, it is suggested, when a preliminary report in need of scholarly review and clarification is rushed prematurely to the public in the midst of an intensely political debate about public support for private schools. The Coleman II report is cited as an example. (MLW)

The National Academy of Education is described as a loose federation of prominent educational and social science researchers, which has never pretended to be a think tank or a lobbying organization. Its influence is indirectly felt through the prestige and quality research of its members. (MLW)

A discussion of the influence of Britain's prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, on higher education looks at the relationship between the administrator's 10 years in office and the fiscal, educational, and public policy issues currently under debate. (MSE)

The new Department of Education, the nation's first secretary of education, Shirley Mount Hufstedler, and some of her newly appointed assistant secretaries are profiled. The creation of the new department, the transition problems involved, and the budget for education are discussed. (MLW)

Affordability--the ability of students and other funders to contribute to the support of colleges and universities--is a topic of increasing salience. In this Resource Review, we examine the affordability of college from two perspectives: from that of students and their families, and from that of the state. We also identify many references to…

Opportunity in this country is more and more a function of education. Education matters. Headlines tell the story. On average, the individual with an associate's degree will earn 20-to-30 percent more than the worker who only has a high school diploma. The worker with a bachelor's degree will earn 40 percent more than the high school graduate. The…

The Reagan revolution is making profound changes in the basic assumptions that have undergirded American educational and social policy. The time has come to form a new national consensus whose unifying idea is educational quality. The declining quality of teachers poses the gravest threat to the quality of education. (MLW)

The changes in postsecondary education's relationship to government generally and to the federal government specifically are discussed. It is concluded that, as the array of issues, participants, and special interests mounts, the academy is less and less able to speak with a single voice in Washington. (MLW)

The chancellor of the California community college system has begun a controversial effort to achieve higher academic standards through governance reform. (MSE)