The state governments are responsible for higher education management in the United States. Different types of state higher education coordinating agencies have different functions and responsibilities for planning. Based on the powers，functions and operation of the higher education coordinating agencies，there exist three types of higher education master planning in the fifty states of the US，which are unified，coordinated and voluntary. The paper conducts a case study of the higher education master planning in Georgia，Virginia and Michigan，examines the characteristics of the three types of higher education master planning，and discusses the implications of the master planning in the United States for the higher education planning in China.