The extent and impact of higher education reform across Asia

Although local dimensions remain important, globalization has led to dramatic changes to the character and functions of higher education in many countries. In these many changes, the pursuit of the world-class status on higher education and the commodification of higher education have caused an intensification of competition for reputation and resources among higher education systems and universities. In response to the increased global competition, higher education sectors in Asia have recently been undergoing significant restructuring processes to enhance their competitiveness in the emerging global higher education market. This paper aims at describing and discussing these recent transformation processes of higher education in Asia, especially delineating reform agendas in major countries in Asia. It is argued that these reform processes made by governments of individual countries have not only caused impacts within their own countries, but have also evolved to promote international collaboration. Therefore, the paper also attempts to examine the implication of these reforms for the regionalization process of higher education in Asia.