Introduction

Higher education is an increasingly complex phenomenon throughout the world. The International Handbook of Higher Education provides an in-depth analysis of the scope of postsecondary education worldwide, combining a series of overarching comparative essays with analytic chapters focusing on key countries and regions.We have carefully selected the key topics requiring broad analysis. In these chapters, a comparative approach permits an understanding of multifaceted subjects from a range of perspectives. The regional and country chapters provide appropriate background as well as current analysis of realities and trends. In all chapters, the emphasis is analytic depth rather than description. This handbook is not an encyclopedia—it provides deeper consideration of central issues and countries rather than more superficial but broader coverage. We are convinced that this approach provides a more sophisticated understanding of the complex reality of contemporary higher education.