Demographers estimate the US population will zoom to 320 million by the year 2000, 85% of whom will concentrate in some 200 metropolitan areas. Large segments of the population already live in the cities, which suffer from problems that provide interested urban universities with opportunities for meaningful urban studies and programs. It is difficult to comprehend why, in the light of intellectual accomplishments, more colleges and universities have not directed efforts to their urban responsibilities. Some city college students have taken the initiative in establishing campus-community ties through various action programs. A new kind of institution, the urban-grant university, would support this student prescience and respond to critical urban needs. Equality of educational opportunity would become a reality, and campuses would be more accessible to urban students. The urban-grant university could also help area public schools improve curricula and textbooks, devise better integration methods, and provide tutoring and other activities to ease the transfer from high school to college in the interest of continuity of education. Services to the neighborhood would include health care, cultural activities, and research conducted in cooperation with community agencies. Extensive federal aid, as a response to direct applications from institutions, would be desirable. Funds could then be granted to all interested colleges and universities on the basis of merit and initiative. (WM)