The ways that institutions of higher education are changing to accommodate the new realities of the 1980's--social developments and the forces of history--are the focus of this study. It is designed as a companion volume to the Carnegie Council's "Three Thousand Futures," and the information used was gathered in campus visits by staff members of the Council or is derived from various Carnegie Commission and Carnegie Council surveys. Four questions are addressed: (1) What changes have most affected higher education in the past decade? (2) What do these changes imply for the 1980's and 1990's? (3) What strategies are available to cope with emerging problems? and briefly, (4) How can these strategies best be implemented at the different kinds of postsecondary institutions? The principal changes noted that are to be accommodated are in student profiles, faculty composition and employment, presidents and trustees, issues of diversity in higher education, and decreasing enrollments. It is suggested that when historians look back on this period in higher education the focus will be less on how individual institutions cope with their problems than on how their efforts along the way made a difference in the overall quality and character of higher education in the United States. Appended are a summary of the Carnegie Council's surveys of Institutional Adaptations, conducted in 1978, and a list of references. (MSE)