In response to increasing student enrollments, expanding knowledge, and other pressures, some colleges and universities are spending their own funds to establish educational development programs that will improve the quality of instruction. A study of ongoing programs was conducted to analyze new educational techniques, determine how they affect institutions, and consider the implications which these developments have for higher education. Interviews were held with 175 persons concerning 16 kinds of programs at 13 public institutions that are individually unique yet have similar basic characteristics. Generally, the programs are: (1) educational development programs -- some help faculty develop new teaching methods, and others coordinate instructional improvement and curriculum revision, (2) offices of instructional resources -- a combination of agencies that coordinate and offer course development, audiovisual, testing, and other services to faculty, (3) research centers -- agencies conducting in-depth studies on 1 aspect of educational development for the whole university, and (4) projects -- departmental activities funded through any of the 3 programs above. It was concluded that these kinds of programs will continue to have administrative support, but further evaluation should be conducted to determine how they affect each institution's overall academic program. Their continued existence may depend on how successfully they can be incorporated into current teaching practices. (WM)