This discussion paper examines major issues that institutions of higher education must face in their long-range planning light of such factors as changes in economic conditions, major demographic shifts, emergence of multimedia/distance education, increased acknowledgement of diversity, and the transition to information age. The key to dealing successfully with lower revenues, while maintaining quality education, lies in rethinking work already being done on current social, technical, political, economic, and educational trends. The challenge for the next decade is addressing the issue of how students learn and their skill development. Higher education must align itself with curriculum reforms already taking place in K-12, such as the California Curriculum Frameworks, and changes in demographics and multiculturalism. By the year 2000, workers will need to devote at least 20 percent of the working day to learning; workers and institutions of higher education must establish collaborative communities to handle these future challenges now. For higher education, survival in the future is the motivating force for restructuring the vehicle of achieving future success. (Contains 16 references.) (Author/NAV)