This article provides commentary on a recent survey (Levy & Peters, 2002) of students' views of the characteristics of the “best” college courses. Levy and Peters's study and conclusions were limited to only certain aspects of faculty, course, and student characteristics that students recognize are relevant when evaluating their academic experiences. Their results may be interpreted to promote a student-as-consumer model of higher education. I present results of a qualitative study to explicate the breadth of issues that should be considered when studying the impact of higher education on undergraduate students.
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