ABSTRACT
In my judgment, universities have a key role to play in professional education-including medicine, law, dentistry, education, and most other professions as well. Of course there are alternatives. As a matter of policy, it is possible to conceive of assigning professional preparation programs to night schools, junior colleges, and/ or entrepreneurial consortia in the private sector. Given the fact that practice in most professions includes a combination of art and science, there is no precise litmus test to distinguish journeymen from hacks. Advocates for institutions other than universities would and do argue loud and long that their graduates better serve the public and are better trained, if not better educated, for the professional roles to which they aspire.
