For many years I have described our postsecondary education system as the jewel of our education system -- and the envy of the world. At the U.S. Department of Education and its Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE), we are continually working to help improve and expand that great system to provide access to all Americans.
The economic benefits of a college education to the individual are well documented. The benefits of an educated citizenry to our democratic society are even more important. Participants at an international meeting on education recently stated that higher education has a role "as a beacon for society" to help move civilization forward. With this Agenda Report: Learning Without Limits, we are working to move postsecondary education forward.
Already, this report has been useful for the Department in developing new ways of better serving our stakeholders. We hope it will be helpful to all in the postsecondary education community in creating an agenda for the years ahead, particularly in the debates leading to the next reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. We hope it starts a discussion and sparks change as to how we can best meet the needs of students, institutions, the business and nonprofit communities, and the entire nation in the changing environment of the 21st century. We look forward to hearing your reactions to this report.
This report represents months of effort and much hard work by the department's Office of Postsecondary Education, and by all those in the postsecondary education community who participated in the Agenda Project process. My thanks to all involved.
Sincerely,
Richard W. Riley
U.S. Secretary of Education
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