"One of the few times I've ever seen my boss really mad is when those lobbyists came to try to get out of the tax bill," says the aide to a prominent Senate leader.

What worries college and university officials is that the aide was talking about higher education and not traditional special interests such as steel manufacturers and oil producers.

The Senator's reaction is becoming typical according to lobbyists for several universities. "I have noticed a disturbing growth in cynicism about universities, the one attitude we cannot long survive," says Robert M. Rosenzweig, president of the Association of American Universities (AAU).

Long accustomed to public respect and support for their schools, college and university officials were taken aback last year by two major legislative defeats. These defeats seemed to indicate that Congressmen were beginning to view higher education "as just any other special interest."

The Reagan Administration could not be happier.

Led by Education Secretary William J. Bennett, a graduate of the Law School, the Administration has launched a media blitz aimed at criticizing what Bennett has termed "Our Greedy Colleges." In a recent article in the New York Times, Bennett portrayed higher education as a big business that fails to deliver the product.

And Bennett has backed up word with deed. In its education budget for fiscal year 1988 the Administration called for a 45 percent reduction in student financial aid from $8.2 billion to $4.5 billion and a $5.5 billion cut from federal spending of $19.5 billion on education.

In response to these attacks officials at Harvard and other colleges and universities have hastened to defend themselves against accusations criticizing undergraduate education and rising college costs.

"Higher education is becoming the whipping boy for Bennett for reasons that have less to do with the state of higher education and more with his own peculiar ideas about budgeting and educating," says Harvard Vice President for Government and Community Affairs John Shattuck.

"Unfortunately Bennet has made higher education into a political issue," says Shattuck, whose office handles relations between Harvard and federal, state and local government.

Higher education officials admit that new pressures on their institutions, including increasing criticism of their practices and demands to cut the federal budget deficit, have forced them to adopt some of the characteristics of a special interest group. Specifically, universities have increased their lobbying effort to counter these threats.

Meanwhile, government sponsored research at Harvard has become a $132-million-a-year business, with federal agencies providing almost 18 percent of the University's operating expenses.

The government also affects over one-third of Harvard students through federal financial aid programs. Additionally, federal tax and investment laws can have a large impact on the University's fundraising ability.

Taxed to the Limit

"Higher education has been a special interest for several vears now," says Bennett spokesman Love Miller. They always say we're somewhat morany superior and ought to be spared.'"