The primary purpose of "National CrossTalk" is to stimulate informed discussion and debate of higher education issues. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Keeping Them in College: East Carolina University's Efforts to Improve Retention and Graduation Rates (Don Campbell); (2) The "Seamless System": Florida's Flurry of Dramatic Changes in the Governance of Public Education (Jon Marcus); (3) Editorial: Our National Underperformance--Is American Higher Education Still the Best in the World? (Patrick M. Callan); (4) Washington, D.C. Symposium Marks the Release of "Measuring Up 2006"; (5) The Ten-Percent Solution: Texas' Enrollment Strategy Remains Contentious, as the State Becomes Increasingly Multi-Cultural (Susan C. Thomson); (6) Commentary: Reactions to the Spellings Commission Report; and (7) Devastation Brings Sweeping Changes: Opportunity, and Opportunism, in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina (Kathy Witkowsky). News from the Center, a regular feature, is included.