To ascertain interest in and need for the Doctor of Arts (DA) degree in Southwestern institutions of higher education, a questionnaire was sent to the presidents of all accredited institutions, as well as recognized candidates for accreditation in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Texas. In addition to the questionnarie, the presidents received a 3 page enclosure with information on the D.A. degree. Of the 181 institutions contacted, 151, or 80.7 percent returned useable replies. The majority of the responses were favorable to questions concerning approval of the degree; willingness to hire, pay, and promote D.A. holders on an equal basis with Ph.D.'s; allowing D.A.'s to teach all disciplines at all 4 undergraduate-year levels; adequacy of preparation for undergraduate teaching; and administrator-perceived prestige. Four out of 5 respondents felt that the Ph.D. dissertation was not a sine qua non for undergraduate teaching. Only in faculty-perceived prestige did the D.A. fall considerably below the Ph.D. Among the levels of institutions, the doctoral institutions were least favorable and the 2-year colleges most favorable in their attitudes toward the D.A. (AF)