FEDERAL HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY: A VIEW FROM THE CAMPUS

During the last generation, the federal government became a major source of financial asssistance to colleges and universities. At the same time, in pursuit of its goals in areas such as affirmative action, collective bargaining, and expenditures control, it became a regulator of campus action to the point where many educators feel it is threatening the autonomy and integrity of institutions of higher education. There is a fear on many campuses that the increased scope and nature of federal activity is causing a fundamental change in the governance of American higher education. We need a major effort to find ways of ameliorating societal problems impacting on the campus within a framework of overall respect for the autonomy of institutions of higher education if the integrity of America's colleges and universities is to be preserved.