The role of higher education institutions may be changing as the public becomes increasingly disquieted by the enormity of the adult illiteracy problem. Recognizing the need to help growing numbers of semiliterate freshmen catch up, colleges and universities have set up centers to provide basic skills programs, counseling, and other services. Community colleges are veterans in serving out-of-school adults who are not necessarily college bound. They are the second largest provider of basic skills instruction in the nation, outranked only by federal Adult Basic Education programs operated through the public schools. Experts predict that during the next decade or so responsibility for adult basic education (ABE) will shift predominantly to community colleges. Providing literacy instruction for adults is totally consonant with the mission of community colleges--to expand educational opportunity. Some colleges and universities are being drawn into basic skills provision through the federal College Work-Study Program, a component of which trains students to work as tutors in community literacy programs. Increased attention to adult literacy in higher education is also evident from basic and applied research activities developing on numerous college campuses around the country. A study has also recommended that higher education focus its efforts on teacher training to prevent illiteracy. (YLB)