America's state colleges and regional universities tend to have humble antecedents and ambitious aspirations. Their professors and administrators usually claim no interest in educating professional scholars, doctors, or lawyers, and express no desire to extend their influence beyond the locality or region in which they are located. Despite this self-estimate, many of these institutions are found along a spectrum, with single-purpose teachers colleges at one end and multipurpose universities at the other. Within this spectrum there is rapid movement, largely in the university direction. One factor in this movement is increasing enrollment--these institutions already educate one out of every 5 students enrolled in American colleges and universities, and most of them should just about double in size by 1975. Another factor is that many of them seek status of at least the order enjoyed by major state universities. Closely related to these trends is the double issue of what constitutes proper preparation of state college teachers and what level of graduate instruction should be offered by these institutions. To that issue the author addresses a radical recommendation in his final chapter. (Author)