This study examined how higher education is represented in the press by analyzing how four leading newspapers, "The New York Times,""USA Today,""The Washington Post," and "The Wall Street Journal," covered higher education in 1997. The study analyzed a total of 610 higher education stories covering 21 topics. The 10 topics on which articles were most frequently written were: (1) affirmative action; (2) costs and price; (3) crime/tragedies; (4) financial aid; (5) government relations; (6) job market for graduates; (7) campus management; (8) military academies; (9) campus performance; and (10) research. The study also analyzed "news frame" and sources. News frame was defined as the tone or perspective of each story and was analyzed in terms of five mutually exclusive categories: conflict, consensus, failure, success, and other. Sources included eight frequently cited categories, including: campus administrators, advocacy groups, experts, faculty, presidents/chancellors, professionals, public officials, and students. Differences among the newspapers were also examined. Overall, the study found that all four papers frequently reported on college management issues, crime and tragedies, and affirmative action, but devoted significantly less attention to research and curriculum. The papers most often quoted campus administrators as sources. Nine charts provide detailed findings. (DB)