Four problems that will be of major concern to academic institutions granting graduate degrees in the coming decade and ways in which sponsored research can help solve them are discussed. The four problems are defined as: (1) the threat posed to research performed by faculty by increased teaching loads; (2) the increasing lack of opportunities for new graduates of doctoral programs to join faculties; (3) the continuing pressures that academic institutions are under to increase the number of women and minorities on their teaching staffs; and (4) the changing employment prospects of students completing their graduate degrees, and thus the skills they need to acquire. A five-point model is proposed which is designed to provide a solution to each of these problems through the generation of sponsored research. The model incorporates practical experience for students in their fields; use of grant monies to provide financial aid for students; active involvement of professors in research in their fields; release of tenured faculty to do research and concomitant hiring of adjunct faculty to broaden the range of ideas and course offerings; and use of the adjunct faculty positions created with grant money to increase the number of women and minority faculty members. Examples of specific Federal funding programs available to support such research endeavors are mentioned, such as the National Science Foundation's Minority Institutions Graduate Traineeship Program. (SW)