There have been dramatic changes in the environment surrounding American higher education and admissions professionals have had to adapt to them. Demographics, new societal attitudes, new complexities in admissions work, and new economic restrictions are seen as having changed the admissions profession. (Author/MLW)

With student consumerism on the rise, providing better information for prospective students is seen as becoming a high priority on college campuses. New consumerism, the student's role, the government's role, and looking ahead to continued consumerism, student consumerism, and pressure for more and better information are discussed. (Author/MLW)

Speech is a major medium for the admissions message, and how well it is utilized needs to be evaluated. An understanding of speech communication and the role it plays in the information process can help admissions professionals to help people make better college choices. (Author/MLW)

Colleges and universities can aid in solving many of society's future problems, but to meet these increased demands, higher education will need greater public and governmental support. An informal survey of 20 college presidents who were asked to look ahead at the next decade is described. (Author/MLW)

"Organized anarchies" is how Michael Cohen and James March have described American universities. The lack of rational-deductive organizational characteristics in higher education has encouraged it to be "playful" in a way that is "sensibly foolish." Budgetary pressures will force universities to become more businesslike. (Author/MLW)

National, regional, and institutional trends projected by several researchers are discussed. In spite of the wide range of predictions and possibilities about future enrollment trends, the majority of the forecasters take a moderate view of the future growth. (Author/MLW)

Five concerns in secondary and higher education will have major implications for measurement in the future. They include: basic skills movement, the increasing diversity of students, the influence of external forces on higher education, the trend toward declining enrollments, and the fixed nature of curricula. (Author/MLW)

Questions about finding information about colleges, deciding which school to attend, and suggested changes in the application and admissions process are answered by six high school students randomly called throughout the nation. (MLW)

A survey of the ways in which two-year-college admissions offices in the middle states region have been affected by social and demographic trends is discussed. The changing role of the admissions officer, student retention, institutional research, and institutional problems are described. (Author/MLW)

High school students are not immediately attracted to poetry because they have never had to listen so carefully, especially to controlled and polished poems. In its report on "Freedom and Discipline in English," the College Board's Commission on English minimizes the value of the poem as art. (MSE)

"Politically correct" outlooks are to be neither wholly accepted nor wholly rejected; they are to be learned from. The self-scrutiny bred by concern about political correctness is an important part of the university tradition; and without it, colleges could not experience their current growing diversity. (MSE)

Although diversity of college students may be desirable, the mix of widely differing characteristics, needs, and attendance patterns makes it very difficult to create community and strong peer group relations. When colleges create conditions for strong student bonds and involvement, they may contribute to higher retention. (MSE)

Ireland's computerized, national system of university admission, which assigns all students to institutions simultaneously, and Britain's system using a single set of admissions forms and centrally coordinated admissions, suggest that centralization can be an efficient and cost-effective method of linking students with colleges in the United…

In the last decade, there has been a dramatic increase in student stress associated with the college admission process. It is the responsibility of admissions professionals, with support from school counselors and administrators, to inform students and parents, reduce the obsession with selectivity, and concentrate on providing students with…

Examination of educational reform efforts in the United States and United Kingdom suggests that, although both seek improvement, approaches differ greatly. The British tradition of high academic standards for the elite is being extended to all ability levels, whereas the United States approach is to strengthen testing without compromising…