Key policy issues and 29 recommendations are considered in a report of the Advisory Panel on the Future of Higher Education in North Dakota. The panel focused on: system organization, educational access, college missions and roles, and the state's ability to continue its current level and type of service to students. Visits were made to the 11 state institutions, public hearings were held, and meetings were held with representatives of campuses, the community, the legislature and state agencies, the Board of Higher Education, and the media. Important issues in North Dakota and other states were finance, governance, and quality. Recommendations concern: developing a true state system of higher education in North Dakota, the State Board of Higher Education's role, dimensions of access to educational opportunity, the practice of open enrollment, mission and role statements in general and for specific colleges that have one- and two-year programs, faculty retention, program review, general education, transfer of credit, enrollment ceilings, remedial education, centers of higher education, cooperation across state boundaries, vocational-technical education, a funding formula for the state, budgeting by the board, tuition and financial aid, and resource sharing. Interviewees and documents that were consulted are listed. (SW)