The Public Research University was written to help frame and stimulate debate on issues surrounding the changes underway within America's public research universities. There is currently a general consensus that most of postsecondary higher education in the United States is under financial stress. Declining public support for public subsidies to higher education and increasing public demand for other forms of public services have contributed to this stress. These declines in resources have resulted in pressures for change in both policies and services. Nowhere have these stresses been stronger than in the public research university. The focus of this study is based on the University of Minnesota, but they are clearly generalizable to most other public research universities.