As American higher education enters the 70s, both its students and the society it serves have raised questions regarding its purposes, structures, and effectiveness. These papers on the assessment of colleges and universities were presented at the 1970 invitational conference of the American College Testing Program. The papers, in the main, emphasize student assessment of their colleges and universities and the assessment by society as a whole of its postsecondary educational institutions. Some of the papers review important historical concepts that make the present air of crisis more understandable. Some of them present evidence of past and present needs of ethnic minorities that can be of genuine help as we grope to find the way from conscious or unconscious racism toward a truly open society. Others describe valuable experimental programs that can provide insights on which to base new curricular and instructional programs. (Author/HS)