In April 2013, "NEJHE" launched its "New Directions for Higher Education series" to examine emerging issues, trends and ideas that have an impact on higher education policies, programs and practices. In this installment, DiSalvio interviews Richard Ekman, president of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), an association of more than 600 private colleges and universities with members including selective liberal arts colleges, medium-sized independent universities, religious colleges, historically black colleges, and single-sex institutions. Economic pressures are posing challenges to the mission-driven traditional private nonprofit institution. A confluence of trends and short-term factors are battering some private colleges, particularly the small-to mid-sized privates that depend on tuition dollars. Since adequate enrollments and endowments are critical to the overall success and financial well-being of these institutions, such long-term trends as the decline in the number of high school graduates, worries about loan debt, competition from for-profit colleges, and diminishing amounts of government aid suggest serious and unique challenges to independent institutions. Ekman offers insights on independent college and university institutional sustainability, misconceptions associated with private higher education, and the role private institutions play in enriching the lives of postsecondary students.