Fifth in a series and the latest of several studies on employee benefits in higher education, this book constitutes a full-scale revision of the earlier "Benefit Plans in American Colleges" (1969). The principal benefit plans provided by U.S. colleges and universities are described, analyzed, and evaluated. Included are retirement (including TIAA-CREF), life insurance, health insurance, social security, short- and long-time disability income provisions. Based on a survey of more than 2,000 institutions, the study covers faculty, administrators, and clerical and service groups. It includes junior and community colleges for the first time. Chapters covering government regulation and the costs of benefits also appear for the first time, and the analysis of social security is considerably extended since the last edition. (LB)