A State Higher Education Agency View of Planning and Review of Graduate Education.

The recent emergence of graduate education as a major issue in statewide planning and coordination is discussed, including involvements not only of institutions and state higher education agencies, but also legislatures and, in some states, even the executive branch. Most of the issues of mutual concern to the academic community and to government result from fiscal restraints, diminishing resources, student demographics, and changing priorities. The issues involve basic questions about the structure and governance of higher education. The most frequently discussed issues are (1) whether there are too many graduate level programs and too many graduates, (2) the priority assigned to graduate education and research, and (3) the question of educational quality, both of graduate programs and of the students. It is suggested that: better mechanisms be developed for reallocating resources internally to assure support for quality programs that are socially desirable and needed, not simply esoteric and prestigious; interinstitutional and interstate cooperation be increased to maximize education resources and meet student needs; and the use of labor supply and demand projections in educational planning be developed. Although all facets of state governments would generally prefer that most educational decision-making remain at the institutional or systemwide level, those institutions must be willing to make the policy decisions made necessary by changing public needs and circumstances. (SC)