Cheryl D. Blanco, Southern Regional Education Board, USAMikyung Ryu, Center for Policy Analysis, American Council on Education, USAAims C. McGuiness, Jr., National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, USADennis P. Jones, National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, USACharles S. Lenth, State Higher Education Executive Officers, USAKathleen J. Zaback, State Higher Education Executive Officers, USAAndrew M. Carlson, State Higher Education Executive Officers, USAAllison C. Bell, National Center for Education Statistics, USASally M. Johnstone, Western Governors University, USAJ. Ritchie Boyd, Montana State University, USACheryl D. Lovell, Rocky Vista University, USA

• Editors' Preface Introduction; Lester F. Goodchild, Richard W. Jonsen, Patty Limerick and David A. Longanecker PART I: PUBLIC POLICY DEMOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND 1. A Demographic Profile of Higher Education in the American West; Cheryl D. Blanco PART II: SEVEN REGIONAL PUBLIC POLICY CHALLENGES 2. Assessing College Access and Success in the West; Mikyung Ryu 3. The Federal Government, Research Funding, and Western Higher Education Policy; David A. Longanecker 4. State Policy Leadership in the Public Interest: Is Anyone at Home?; Aims C. McGuiness, Jr. 5. Higher Education Finance Policy in the Western States; Dennis P. Jones 6. Public Financing of Higher Education in the Western States - Changing Patterns in State Appropriations and Tuition Revenues; Charles S. Lenth, Kathleen J. Zaback, Andrew M. Carlson, and Allison C. Bell 7. Technology and Distance Education: Challenges Facing the American West; Sally M. Johnstone and J. Ritchie Boyd 8. The Growth of Community Colleges in the West: Conditions and Public Policy Challenges; Cheryl D. Lovell PART III: A CONCLUDING COMMENTARY 9. Afterword: Where Do We Go From Here: The Policy Nexus between the West and the Federal Government; David A. Longanecker

"Although the volume has a regional theme, it should interest policy analysts not only in the affected states but also in other states and in national groups. The authors also analyze the influence of the region's 'political culture,' institutional arrangements for higher education, and attitudes toward public taxation astutely, while making appropriate distinctions among the states." - William M. Zumeta, Professor of Public Affairs and Higher Education, University of Washington, USA, and former President of the Association for the Study of Higher Education "The editors and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education WICHE are to be commended for the substantive and cogent narrative and analysis presented. I am confident that scholars interested in regional history and public policy will eagerly embrace these works and that they will use them in their own teaching, writing, and research." - Amy Wells Dolan, Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Higher Education, University of Mississippi, USA