The connection between higher education attainment and higher incomes has become increasingly more pronounced in recent years as the United States has moved toward a knowledge economy. What is less apparent or understood is higher education's contribution to the collective wellbeing of the nation and the world. Given humanity's growing interdependence, it is unlikely that American universities can long remain isolated from the bog that may surround them in the 21st century. Four external trends may have an especially powerful influence on higher education in future decades. Demographics, both in the United States and globally, will continue to shape the environment in which institutions operate, bringing to the fore an aging and more ethnically diverse population. Changes in the economy will continue to increase demand for college-educated workers and shape the nature of higher education's programmatic response. Information technology, most notably the Internet, will continue to alter delivery mechanisms and organizational structures. The commercialization, or "corporatization," of higher education will accelerate in both public and private colleges and universities. The paper makes recommendations to boards for building a public agenda in an age of entrepreneurship. (Contains 20 bibliographic references.) (SM)