ABSTRACT
Many are agreed about the shortcomings of traditional higher education, but few agree about the correct strategy to remedy these shortcomings. It is possible to regard the development of 'alternatives' to traditional higher education in a less messianic light. Dr Earl Cheit, associate director of the Carnegie Council on Policy Studies in Higher Education, coined the phrase 'the new depression' to describe the predicament of much of traditional higher education. 'Further education' is not a totally satisfactory description of that part of postsecondary education that stands outside the college mainstream for another important reason: in many countries it is declining sector. In an American context the terms 'occupational' or 'vocational' education is often preferred to 'further education'. The Office of Education survey found that there were in 1971 8,182 postsecondary schools which offered occupational programmes. The second largest component of further education in the United States after the proprietary schools is the community college sector.
