This report examines the past record, current condition, and potential of Iraq's higher education sector. Iraqis have traditionally valued intellectual achievement, but the legacy of Baathist rule and the current tide of instability are crippling the universities' ability to function effectively. The future, however, could see those universities…

When the first black colleges were founded more than a century ago they filled an important need for youth who were denied access to all but a few white institutions. Today these same private colleges must compete with more affluent, prestigious white colleges and universities for funding and for black students and teachers. They are losing in…