This paper explores the meaning of Total Quality Management (TQM), examines the development of the concept, and assesses the application of TQM to education. In summary, TQM has the following points of relevance for education: (1) The interest and welfare of every student must be a primary concern; (2) the authoritarian management model does not produce students who think for themselves; (3) learning cannot flourish in the competitive atmosphere that is created by traditional evaluation; and (4) building educational quality during the process is less costly than attempting to build quality through inspection at the end of the process. A conclusion is that not only can TQM be applied to education, it should be applied. (LMI)