This report considers what kinds of academic philosophies are being questioned and by whom. Some of the rhetoric concerning the purpose of higher education is reviewed, several conceptual distinctions are drawn, and working definitions are offered for such terms as "function,""purpose,""goal," and "objective." General and specific uses of institutional goals are discussed, and several multi-college studies on goals are described. Consideration of the issues of institutional autonomy and power is followed by attention to 3 strategies for determining goals: by fiat, by committee, and by survey. Special emphasis is given to the uses of the Delphi Technique as a goal-determination strategy. References follow the conclusions. (JS)