In recent years I have wandered rather freely about the American scene, visiting over a hundred colleges and conversing with many hundreds of colleagues. The major impression I have brought back with me is of the overall health of American education. To be sure, the standards vary enormously. In the private universities-of the northeast and the better state universities of the middle west, the level of faculty scholarship and student qualification is high. In some of the smaller sectarian colleges, gasping (...) to keep alive in the rising tide of costs, with little or no endowment and an overworked staff, the standards and the atmosphere are less happy. Still, the general impression is one of vitality. Nearly everywhere I went, I had the same sense of dedication on the part of the staff and of eager receptiveness on the part of the students. (shrink)