Universities face enormous problems. Their survival depends on how they respond to persistent budgetary cuts from public sources, conflicting expectations from varying constituencies, and competitive pressures from competing training organizations. As they search for institutional arrangements that will be conducive to their success in the face of these problems, many of them have attempted to take advantage of small, focused groups of students, faculty and staff organized for common purpose into "learning communities." But these communities are perforce components of the larger university community. In this article, the authors suggest that a fair-minded review of the learning community literature finds little support for the belief that learning communities focus on intellectual development. In the main, they may work quite effectively to strengthen a sense of belonging and build social and personal skills that might be functional in other, more intellectual settings. Their supporters' justifications tend to focus on retention rates and student satisfaction. The authors also describe and offer assessment data for IMPACT, (Integrating Moral Principles and Critical Thinking) a particular learning community at a public Mid-western university to offer hope that learning communities with explicit intellectual skills emphases are practical.