The history of assessment in American higher education is examined, with a focus on the period after World War II. Assessment practices in the early years of higher education are also discussed. Assessment studies concentrated on either the college, the curriculum, or students. Questions that have been investigated by specific assessment studies are identified. The studies investigated the following concerns: whether the curriculum should be changed, the effectiveness of the curriculum, who should go to college, how students change during college, the value of a college education, the nature of the student experience, outcomes of a college education, what is wrong with the collegiate system, causes of campus unrest, and how to improve higher education. Within higher education today, assessment has come to have both narrow and broad connotations. The narrow connotation refers to determining the outcomes of a college education using standardized tests. The broad definition encompasses many types of measures and methods used to assess students at several points in time, from entrance to exit time. The following terms in contemporary use are briefly defined: test, measurement, evaluation, and assessment. A 45-item reference list concludes the document. (SW)