This document analyzes and comments on six major reports by eminent national groups that have recently been issued. These reports include: The Carnegie Commission, "Higher Education: Who Pays? Who Benefits? Who Should Pay?"; Committee for Economic Development, "The Management and Financing of Colleges"; National Board on…

America's colleges, with limited resources and heavy commitments to new and continuing programs, are searching for ways to slow down rapidly accelerating costs without sacrificing quality. A promising possibility suggested by this study is that colleges improve operating efficiency by changing their modes of instruction. (MJM)

This volume explores the many ways in which college and university education influences the lives of individuals and society. While the book recognizes the economic benefits of a college education, it also surveys and lends support to the evidence of the noneconomic benefits of higher education, both for the individual and for the nation. The 15…

The question of what American colleges and universities should spend to educate their students is addressed. Both societal and institutional factors that determine the costs of colleges' educating their students and longitudinal changes in the unit cost of higher education are examined. The following issues are considered: long-term trends in unit…

Are our colleges and universities worth what they cost? For generations the American people have thought so. Recently, however, the public has become more skeptical toward higher education and other social institutions. Current knowledge of the consequences of higher education is substantial and is found in a vast literature derived mainly from…

A system of financing college students is needed to meet expenses that are more than parents can afford and students can earn. The gap can only be met by grants, loans, or a combination of both, such as a national system of minimal educational grants supplemented by long-term loans. Individual grants, financed by the federal government and…