What is the point of private colleges in the last quarter of the 20th century? As

Mr. Buckley states the problem, paraphrasing Professor Jeffrey Hart of Dartmouth, "Once they were enclaves of distinctiveness, with their traditions, their peculiarities ... That is no longer the case. Once they were fortresses of academic excellence. That is no longer the case." Our guests genially but firmly reject the premise; some things have changed, but don't, Mr. Ward admonishes his host, confuse "Columbia University or perhaps your university at Yale, a very large recipient of federal moneys," with the small private colleges...""See, about the only money that comes into a place like Amherst College would be through the National Science Foundation for research projects." And Mrs. Conway thinks "there is a growing awareness on the part of women students, and men actually, that there is much to be gained from the small-college environment that is currently not so easily available in a large university setting."