In a well-known fable, several blind men are asked to describe an elephant. One says, ''An elephant is flat, like a pancake," another says that it's "like a big snake." Their descriptions are accurate but limited, based on whichever part of the beast each happens to be holding--the ear, the trunk, and so forth. America's "system" of higher education resembles an elephant: huge, lumbering, and difficult to describe, particularly for this author, a reporter who has spent nearly three decades reporting primarily on the schools. In 2005, along with several colleagues, Merrow developed a two-hour PBS documentary, "Declining by Degrees: Higher Education at Risk," that described the state of higher education. This article describes what Merrow learned from that experience. It was found that several themes ran across the spectrum of institutions, from community colleges to elite universities: (1) Teaching and learning are declining in importance relative to getting a degree, because higher education is generally seen as a commodity to be purchased; (2) Institutions' presidents and admissions offices spend a lot of energy chasing money or prestige or both; (3) Many instructors and students have arrived at the equivalent of a non-aggression pact--"Don't expect too much of my time because I have research to do, and I won't ask much of you but will see that you get a decent grade."; and (4) As a nation, the society is reneging on its commitment to access for all, so that today, when it comes to higher education, an individual's economic status is the best predictor of his or her educational destiny.