President Bush is leaving the White House with a mixed record on higher education. His administration catapulted conversations about holding colleges more accountable for their performance into the national spotlight, and it pressed for some increases in federal spending on student aid and research. At the same time, Mr. Bush faced criticism from many scientists in academe, who said the president's decisions about science were too heavily influenced by politics. Federal auditors, meanwhile, criticized his Education Department for being too lax in its oversight of student lenders. Debates over education policy in Mr. Bush's first term were largely dominated by his desire to overhaul elementary and secondary education through his No Child Left Behind law, but more attention turned to higher education in the second term. His second education secretary, Margaret Spellings, convened a Commission on the Future of Higher Education, whose final report recommended sweeping changes, including proposals to require institutions to do more to measure student learning and to simplify the process of applying for federal aid. In this article, the authors present summaries of how George W. Bush has shaped key areas of higher-education policy as president.