Short summary ............................................................................................................................................................................ 3

Foreword......................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Acknowledgements................................................................................................................................................................... 8

List of figures and tables........................................................................................................................................................10

Acronyms and abbreviations...............................................................................................................................................12

Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................................15

1. Snapshot of higher education today ........................................................................................................................16

2. About the Higher Education Policy Observatory (HEPO)..................................................................................17

3. Purpose and scope of the Report...............................................................................................................................17

4. Methodology.....................................................................................................................................................................18

International data collection and availability by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)...........21

Part I: The changing face of higher education......................................................................................................25

Introduction...........................................................................................................................................................................26

Chapter 1. Participation and completion ....................................................................................................................27

Chapter 2. Equity and inclusion.......................................................................................................................................37

Chapter 3. Governance and legislative frameworks ...............................................................................................43

Chapter 4. External quality assurance .........................................................................................................................49

Chapter 5. Financing of higher education ..................................................................................................................55

Chapter 6. Digital transformation and artificial intelligence ................................................................................63

Chapter 7. Higher education teaching personnel ....................................................................................................73

Part II: Spotlight on student mobility.......................................................................................................................81

Introduction...........................................................................................................................................................................82

Chapter 8. Inbound and outbound mobility trends ...............................................................................................83

Chapter 9. Recognition of foreign qualifications .....................................................................................................91

Chapter 10. The case for refugees and displaced persons ....................................................................................99

Conclusions and the future outlook....................................................................................................................... 105

References................................................................................................................................................................................. 112

Appendix .................................................................................................................................................................................. 125

List of indicators used ...................................................................................................................................................... 125