Interinstitutional cooperation ranks among the most vigorous movements in American higher education, and the consortium has been promoted as a means for improving the marginal existence of colleges and for better utilizing the resources of larger institutions. This paper sets the stage for examining the effectiveness of voluntary interinstitutional cooperation first by discussing the domain of institutional relationships and relating the consortium to this larger framework; second, by pointing to some key issues that are raised when the question of interinstitutional cooperation is viewed in the light of 6 functions of higher education; third, by listing 9 purposes that colleges and universities give for joining resources in some common program; and fourth, by examining a select group of outputs that might be usefully employed to evaluate the effectiveness of cooperative efforts. (Author/HS)