Opinions of senior academic officials about changes in the quality of students in science and engineering (S/E) fields over the past 5 years were surveyed in 1982. Responses were received from officials from 387 institutions with undergraduate programs and 298 schools with graduate programs. Sixty-one percent of the officials believed that undergraduate student quality had not changed significantly; among officials at graduate institutions, three of every five believed the quality of applicants for graduate study in S/E fields had not changed significantly; three-quarters of the officials at the 100 institutions with the greatest baccalaureate production in S/E fields believed that the distribution of their most able students had shifted toward S/E fields; computer science was most cited as a recipient field by 32 percent of the officials, engineering by 18 percent, and the physical sciences by 6 percent; and the officials based their judgment of the quality of graduate school applicants most often on faculty perceptions, closely followed by undergraduate grade point averages. Detailed statistical tables, questionnaires, and technical notes are included. (SW)