This book grows out of the realization that a convergence of economic, demographic, and political forces in the early twenty-first century requires a fundamental reexamination of the financing of American higher education. The authors identify and address basic issues and trends that cut across the sectors of higher education, focusing on such questions as how much higher education the country needs for individual opportunity and economic viability in the future; how responsibility for paying for it is currently allocated; and how higher education finance should be addressed in the future. A major statement by four leading figures within the field, this is an indispensable book at a time of heightened national concern about the future of higher education.