自從第二次世界大戰結束之後的數十年來，高等教育經歷了史無前例的大變動。為了落實教育機會均等的理想，滿足社會的需求，高等教育在戰後的擴張時期主要是由政府提供經費，並進行嚴密的計畫與控制。到了1980年代之後，高等教育和政府之間的關係有了顯著的轉變，政府的角色逐漸由控制轉向監督。政府一方面給予高等教育較大的自主空間，另一方面減少公共經費，加重機構自籌經費的比例。其目的在於減輕政府的財務負擔及迫使高等教育更積極地回應市場，也就是家長、學生、雇主、企業界及政府等教學與研究之購買者的需求。除了必須以較少的經費提供品質較高的教育之外，高等教育也被認為應該為國家的經濟發展及競爭優勢的維持更盡心力。面對外在環境的劇烈改變和國際合作與競爭的趨勢，高等教育必須勇於創新才能在新世紀繼續茁壯和成長。本文由政府、市場與高等教育、經濟發展與高等教育、高等教育的國際化、高等教育與創新等四個角度，回顧歐美、日本及我國高等教育在過去數十年來的變化，並勾勒高等教育在二十一世紀的發展方向。

Since the end of World War Ⅱ, higher education world-wide has been experiencing a transformational period of social demands, revolutionary technology and governmental policy. The skyrocketing expenses and the pressure to provide higher education of better quality at lower cost have forced governments to deregulate their control over higher education. The interaction between governments and higher education has been shifting from “government control model” to “government supervising model”. Coupled with this change of relationship is the introduction of market mechanism which is believed to be able to motivate academic institutions to improve their quality of teaching, research and services by being more responsive to national priorities. Regarded as the engine of the knowledge-based economy, higher education is vulnerable to the demands of the industry, especially in the field of R&D. In the face of increasing globalization, higher education institutions have to be innovative in order to survive and grow in the new century. This article intends to explore the transformations that higher education has been undergoing in the light of the changing relationship between government, market and higher education, economic development and higher education, the internationalization of higher education and the innovations of higher education.