Research universities enjoy the highest status among colleges and universities (Geiger, 1993; Graham & Diamond, 1997; Lipset, 1994; Rosovsky, 1990). These complex organizations perform an array of functions unlike that of any other educational institution, ranging from basic and applied research in virtually every field, graduate and professional training, and baccalaureate education. They attract many gifted students and faculty members, lead the world in great prizes awarded for science, and receive significant external support for their activities (Alpert, 1985; Noll, 1998). They train the vast majority of physicians and PhD recipients as well as about one-third of the baccalaureate degree recipients, even though they comprise only 6% of the baccalaureate degree-granting institutions. In addition, they are citadels of academic culture, where faculty autonomy and academic freedom are deeply rooted and fiercely protected (Rosovsky, 1990). In short, they are the standard to which most other colleges and universities aspire (Geiger, 1986, 1993). For better or worse, many colleges and universities try to emulate certain of their characteristics, such as the entrepreneurial ethos that drives an unflagging search for resources to support their ever expanding array of programs and activities. Research universities are not without critics, however. Prior to the 1990s most of the criticisms were from inside the academy, focusing on