This title was first published in 2000. This is a collection of papers which look at the relationship between higher education and those who use it, and those who will in the future. The papers look at how compacts could be developed to encourage the potential for maintaining and improving upon existing education agreements. The book covers the university and higher education institutions and their relationship with government and industry as well as with the students.

Introduction; 1: The Idea of a Compact; 1: Realizing a Compact for Higher Education; 2: British Higher Education: Compacts or Contracts?; 2: The Political Economy of a Compact; 3: Quality Assurance: Champion or Servant of the Dearing Compact?; 4: Regulating the Masses: Quality and Equality in Higher Education; 5: A Compact for Higher Education: A Case Study of the Thames Gateway; 6: Understanding Today and Shaping Tomorrow: The Proper Role of University Research in the Social Sciences, But Under Siege - Towards a Compact for Social Sciences Research; 7: The Virtual University; 3: Towards a Compact for Inclusivity; 8: What Kind Of Place Is This? Cultures of Learning, Student Identities, and the Process of Disqualification in British Higher Education 1; 9: Equality, Inclusion and Higher Education (HE) for Students with Disabilities; 10: Still on the Margins: Towards a Compact between Higher Education and the Lower Socioeconomic Constituencies in Britain; 4: Contributions Towards a Compact: Perspectives from the Consumers; 11: Prospects for a Compact with the Learning and Skills Council; 12: Students Learn to Adapt; 13: The Rise of the Student-Worker; 14: Higher Education: Strategy and Perspectives. The contribution of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) to a Compact; 15: Higher Education in the Knowledge Age; 16: Conclusion