In most developed countries a high proportion of the population (up to 50 percent) now enter higher education at some time in their lives. Higher education is therefore very important to national economies, both as a significant industry in its own right, and as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy. It follows that there are enormous stakes involved for a particular country even though the payoff of serious reforms may take decades and thus be counterproductive to the political forces responsible for designing and implementing such reforms since their horizons tend to be very short. This new book tackles important issues in this dynamic field.