Planning and Coordination for Higher Education" is, of course, one
of the basic pieces of information to which many states have turned
when they first sought information about the various possible co-
ordinating arrangements. Assistance in the development of effective
state planning and coordination is only one of many ways in which

SREB has been of assistance to its member states. Its research studies
have made available to all of the states information which it would
have been much more expensive, if not impossible, for each of them
to gather independently.

The Board's role as an important educational agency at the reg-
ional level—that is, at a level which encompasses more than a single
state but less than the entire nation—will, I believe, increase signif-
icantly in the future. One important activity which is particularly
well-suited to regional action is the coordination of program devel-
opment in these specialized areas which need not be duplicated in
every state, but to which every state needs access. SREB has devoted
much attention to some of these areas in recent years and has assisted
in the development of specialized southern programs in nursing, sta-
tistics, area and language studies, veterinary medicine, certain agri-
cultural fields and others.

As man's knowledge continues to multiply, the ability of each state
to provide within its boundaries every type of educational opportun-
ity will decrease and the need for this type of regional cooperation
will greatly increase. It is noteworthy, I think, that the Board's activ-
ities in these areas have never been based upon any ability to coerce
or force any state or any institution to accept its recommendations.
The Board's activities have been an example of genuine cooperation
based upon convincing evidence and effective staff work.

The federal government is playing an increasingly important role
in financing of colleges and universities, and this inevitably introduces
a whole new set of relationships and interrelationships in addition to
those within a single state or among the states in a single region. The
federal involvement, of course, helps in our efforts to support our in-
stitutions more adequately. Also, in the areas of graduate education
and research where federal funds have played a major role, the actual
benefits are nationwide, and it therefore makes sense that the national
government help finance them. There is an obvious need for better
coordination among the many federal departments and agencies which
provide various types of assistance and which secure various services
from our educational institutions. Such coordination of effort at the
federal level would help all of the parties involved—the institutions,

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