This volume provides comparative data highlighting significant trends affecting colleges and universities in 16 southern states Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The following trends are identified: (1) the region is becoming more diverse, and its overall growth rate has been outpacing the national growth rate; (2) between 1988 and 1998 more than half the new jobs nationwide were created in these states; (3) between 1986 and 1996, the region accounted for 55 percent of the nation's total increase in college enrollment; (4) financial strains remain for colleges despite growth in state tax funds allocated for higher education; and (5) tuition and fees have risen from 15 percent to 20 percent of the average public four-year college's budget. The 25 graphs and 85 data tables are grouped into sections on population and economy, enrollment, degrees, tuition and student financial aid, faculty and administrators, and revenues and expenditures. Appended are definitions of institutional categories and a list of state data exchange agencies. (DB)