Excerpts from Achieving Educational Excellence

In the following three excerpts from his 1985 Achieving Educational Excellence: A Critical Assessment of Priorities and Practices in Higher Education, reprinted by permission of Jossey‐Bass Publishers, Alexander W. Astin describes and critiques four traditional conceptions of educational excellence, explains and defends the talent development approach that he espouses, and presents his conception of educational equity. Charles S. Adams comments on Astin's book in this issue's Reviews.