A list of the statewide agencies overseeing higher education in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico gives addresses and the names of the chief executive officers, and notes whether they are governing or coordinating boards. (MSE)

State higher education officers agree that reforms of higher education have budgetary effects their supporters fail to consider, and they are in the position of having to explain the real costs of new programs and policies. (MSE)

A Southern Regional Education Board report warns that if state leaders do not insist that two-year college students meet publicly recognized performance standards, public confidence in the institutions could decline. (MSE)

Critics of the Texas higher education system complain South Texas public colleges have not shared state funds equitably and suggest mergers would allow the small institutions to gain political power and funding for expansion. However, the mergers are seen as only a beginning to the regional upgrading of higher education. (MSE)

Florida is working to improve its university system's reputation at the same time that it faces increased demand for limited spaces, stiff civic competition for public funding, international political issues, continuing regional disagreement, and conflict between legislators and institutions. (MSE)

Since Montana's establishment of a state university system in 1893, residents have been divided over how many institutions are needed and what programs should be offered, but the situation is worsened by the state's current poor economic climate and the too-large system. (MSE)

Aggressive campaigns by small groups of citizens have made it nearly impossible to close or merge public colleges, with the result that parochial interests often triumph over the needs of the state as a whole and higher education planning is becoming more political and less logical. (Author/MSE)

Fund raising for private colleges has been successful in New Jersey because it no longer focuses on unrestricted corporate gifts as many do but seeks support from a broader variety of sources. State aid gained in this way is a radical and possibly life-saving innovation. (MSE)

A plan for all of the state of Maryland's 13 public colleges and universities to be included in the University of Maryland System is discussed. The system would be governed by a board of regents, and each college would have a board of trustees to monitor campus issues. (MLW)

The growing restiveness and political force of the Mexican-American population is strengthening state institutions in South Texas, whose enrollments are predominantly Mexican-American and who are fighting discrimination in the state legislature. (MSE)

Michigan's legislature has approved the only statewide plan to allow parents to prepay their child's tuition to any of the state colleges, state universities, or community colleges. Prepayment may begin any time from the child's birth until his or her 18th birthday, and the money will be invested in a trust. (MSE)

A committee studying Texas higher education has withdrawn a controversial proposal to merge institutions, instead adopting a broad set of principles for higher education and specific recommendations for state colleges and universities. The objective is to improve education during state economic decline due to falling oil prices. (MSE)

The president of the Education Commission of the States urged state policy-makers to proceed cautiously in developing plans to allow parents to pre-pay college tuitions years in advance at discounted prices. Reciprocal agreements between the states and exploration of other options are suggested. (MLW)

A federal judge's specifications for desegregating Mississippi's state colleges are excerpted from a recent court ruling. Issues addressed include the state's formula for financing colleges, whether the case should focus on students or institutions, the missions of historically black colleges and predominantly white institutions, and campus…

Pennsylvania's 10-year-old system of 14 state-owned universities has focused on increasing the stature and character of individual institutions, limited centralization, and fostered cohesion and cooperation rather than competition, particularly in difficult economic conditions. (MSE)