The?future of?this country's colleges and universities is threatened by global competitive pressures, powerful technological developments, restraints?on public finance and serious structural limitations that cry out for reform. This report from The Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education, has recommended strategic actions designed to?make higher education more accessible, more affordable, and more accountable, while maintaining world-class quality. Colleges and universities must become more transparent, faster to respond to rapidly?changing circumstances and increasingly productive in order to deal effectively?with?the powerful forces of change they now face. Reaching these goals will also require difficult decisions and major changes from many others beyond the higher education community. The commission calls on policymakers to address the needs of higher education in order to maintain social mobility and a high standard of living. It calls on the business community?to become directly and fully engaged with government and higher education leaders in developing innovative structures for delivering 21st-century?educational services--and in?providing?the necessary financial and human resources for that purpose. Finally, it calls on the American public to join in this commission's commitment to improving the postsecondary institutions on which so much of our future--as individuals and as a nation--relies. Appended are: (1) Charter; (2) Commission and Staff Roster Bibliographies; (3) Issue Papers; (4) Organizations that Provided Information to the Commission; and (5) Commission Meetings, Hearings, and Testimony. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.) [Support for this publication was also provided by: IBM Corporation; Microsoft Corporation; and the University of Texas System.]