Purpose of study. The purpose of the study was primarily concerned with exploring the major issues that are confronting presidents of higher education and if transformational or transactional leadership practices and concepts are warranted in addressing their issues. Procedure. A Delphi technique was used with a broad-based panel of 52 experts who were college or university presidents in the United States. The expert panel provided input to 41 distinct indicators that included a list of concerns, issues, management practices and concepts, and effective leadership qualities. These indicators were force rated through three rounds to determine levels of agreement and consensus determined from medians and interquartile ranges for each indicator. Findings. Final ratings resulted in 25 (61%) of the indicators receiving a median rating of 6 or less, indicating that the panelists agreed or strongly agreed the indicator was applicable, and 23 indicators (56%) reached a level of statistical consensus with an IQR of 2 or less. Conclusions. The researcher reached 10 conclusions from the analyzing the findings. They were (1) the distinction between transactional and transformation leadership practices and concepts in higher education may not be as clear as traditionally believed; (2) university presidents recognize the critical need for a vision and purpose with values; (3) university presidents recognize that establishing an environment of excellence inspires trust; (4) university presidents' major challenge in introducing change is the traditional and historical structures of culture; (5) both transactional and transformational leadership practices will have to be applied to ensure change due to the reluctance of tenured faculty and staff to consider changes due to personal impact; (6) the situation and environment of reduction in state and/or government funding will require critical application of transactional and transformational leadership practices and concepts; (7) president must have the individual quality of commitment; (8) a university president's competency in knowledge, leadership skills, and technical expertise is necessary; and (9) the attribute of authenticity must reside within the university president's acumen. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]