Perspectives on eight regional conferences that were held to discuss implementation of the 1978 master plan for higher education in Pennsylvania are considered. The development of statewide systems of higher education and their increased reliance on statewide master planning is traced, and the history of coordination, governance, and planning in Pennsylvania is compared with national trends. The presentations and disucssion that occurred in the eight conFerences are summarized, and the 37 recommendations from the master plan are summarized and presented in full in the appendix. Chapter one of the 1978 master plan presents some projections about the environment of the 1980s that will affect higher education in Pennsylvania. Chapter two addresses the goals of higher education in Pennsylvania, and specifically, the goals of the State Board of Education, including quality education, access, and governance and coordination. Chapter three describes the system of higher education in Pennsylvania and establishes the mission of the five sectors and contains recommendations in the areas of statewide planning and governance. Chapter four considers access to higher education in terms of financial access, student assistance, geographical access, physical access, and access for women and minorities. Chapter five defines academic quality and provides a list of criteria for measuring the level of quality of an institution. It also includes a number of recommendations calling for institutional actions in the areas of general education, graduate and professional education, adult and continuing education, counseling, research, transfer of credit among institutions, and articulation with basic education. Chapter six addresses financing Pennsylvania's system of higher education. Observations on the conferences and on master planning in Pennsylvania are also presented. A bibliography is appended. (SW)