The Latin American countries have an immense overall task in providing formal education for more than half the population and in coping with the accumulated deficits of the adult population who did not have access to formal education or who left it prematurely. Latin America's economic capacity to correct this situation is limited. Higher education enrollment is expected to increase more than elementary enrollment in the near future, and there is a perceptible trend toward increasing the number of dedicated full-time professors. Since 1918, educational reform in these countries has meant the struggle for power, and not necessarily for academic improvement. The relationship between the governments and the public universities has not been an easy one, and there is a marked trend toward laws to regulate higher education. There is also a trend toward interinstitutional cooperation, and institutional administration is being reshaped, especially in its financial aspects. Data tables are included. (Author/MSE)