There is no doubt that the American economy is in the midst of a major restructuring. While the consequences are not yet fully apparent, two powerful implications for higher education have become clear. First, because solutions to the nation's problems will require a highly educated work force, the demands on colleges can only increase. Second, because of the financial meltdown, colleges will have to meet those demands in an environment characterized by constrained state and federal support, more resistance to tuition increases, greater need for financial aid, and reduced returns from endowments. Meeting such challenges will require colleges to get the best possible results from what they spend--that is, to maximize their productivity. Few would disagree with that basic notion, but the "how" can elicit great controversy. In this article, the author contends that what is needed is for most, if not all, colleges to mount systematic and well-resourced programs for analyzing and continuously improving the processes of teaching and learning. Without doubt, in the longer term, the colleges that provide exemplary education will be those that have learned how to harness learning technology for the benefit of their students.