Universities and colleges in the United States are encountering a turbulent climate. The quality of their future in many ways depends on how well they respond to evolving realities in the larger world beyond their walls. Ultimately the most significant change affecting universities may be the continuing revolution in information technology. Improved information technology has made possible new methods of education. A high-level* Kellogg Commission letter to the presidents and chancellors of state universities and land-grant collegest included this comment: "... the number of profit and nonprofit competitors to the traditional higher education has exploded. Our institutions now contend with an enormous variety of educational vendors offering postsecondary coursework, training, degrees, diplomas, and courses of one kind or another...." The letter cited as an example the University of Phoenix, "a publicly traded, accredited, for-profit institution of higher education" that "provides distance-learning opportunities to more than 20,000 students annually."
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