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 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)

John Anderson's record on higher education is seen as offering little insight to his philosophy. His platform is said to devote as much space to international education and language studies as to student aid or research. He sees present regulatory practices as having hampered institutions of higher learning. (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 Clinton administration's proposed national service program for college students receiving federal financial aid is examined from a labor-market perspective. It is proposed that national service and higher education be linked more formally than in the current proposal, avoiding considerable bureaucracy and potentially improving program quality.…

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)

Major findings and recommendations of a report by the NRC Committee on Continuity in Academic Research Performance, "Research Excellence through the Year 2000," are presented. Two reactions by young academics are reprinted. The relationships of government support and young academics and of limited knowledge and public policy are…

The concept underlying affirmative action emerged in 1941, but resistance to it persists. Equity management is a form of leadership committed to diversity as a strength, not a weakness. Federal policy has led in this approach, and historically black colleges provide models. Higher education must now forge effective policies and practices. (MSE)

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)

Issues of equal educational opportunity are seen to be transformed into issues of effectiveness, efficiency, or cultural pluralism. It is suggested that issues of equal educational opportunity are likely to be resolved only by reducing the capacity of the educational system itself to determine the future and the value of individuals. (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)

A discussion of public policy and access to higher education in the United States surveys the federal role in higher education since the 1960s through legislation and litigation, focusing on access for poor and/or minority students. Suggestions are made for action by the Clinton administration to address the current challenge. (MSE)

Four members of a seminar on the federal role in education in the coming administration discuss federal priorities for education, offering hope that a 10-year policy gridlock may be about to break. (Author/MSE)

The federal role in postsecondary education is seen as a complex one, with over 400 separate legislative provisions to influence federal spending for higher education. Virtually every federal agency is said to be involved in some manner. The performance of the Carter administration in higher education is evaluated. (MLW)