In "The Higher Education System", Burton Clark provides a model for the organisational analysis of higher education institutions and systems. Central to the model are the concepts of knowledge, beliefs and authority. In particular, Clark examines how different interest groups both inside and outside the university shape and subvert the…

Five papers address issues in the current debate in the United Kingdom over standards in higher education, especially the "Graduate Standards" program of the Higher Education Quality Council. The first paper, an introduction by John Brennan, identifies key issues in the standards debate such as the role of mass education, the various…