ABSTRACT
In the United States, more than 4,000 non-profit colleges and universities serve the needs of many important constituencies: prospective and current students and their families, faculty and staff, employers and local businesses, federal and state agencies, and oversight boards. Two-year schools play a major role in job preparation and supplying local businesses and organizations with well-trained technical and nontechnical employees. Programs and faculty at metropolitan universities provide focused outreach to support and enhance the urban centers in which they are located and extend the application of their work to other urban areas. State-supported colleges and universities provide expanded access and opportunity to their communities and citizens of the state through subsidized tuition and campuses strategically located to meet the needs of underserved areas. Carnegie-classified, research-extensive universities invest in a strong research infrastructure to support externally funded basic and applied research. This broad variety of options is a great strength of the U.S. higher education system because different constituencies may have different preferences or values (e.g., low cost versus academic selectivity). In addition, individuals may have different preferences or values at different points in time (e.g., a residential experience while pursuing an undergraduate degree and an online option while pursing professional development coursework for career enhancement).
