Since the 1960s, the institutional integration/merger has been an important policy in many countries in their efforts to restructure their higher educational systems. Recently, this also has been adopted in Taiwan to pursue an economy of scale, lower costs, greater efficiency, and academic excellence. In contrast to the stong interest shown by certain circles of policy-makers, very limited attention has been devoted to research on this topic. In order to clarify related ideas and to learn from the experience of other countries, this paper addresses the issue firstly by exploring the external and internal driving forces. Secondly, the types of integration/merger and their respective impact on institutional sutonomy are analyzed. Finally, the experiences of the Netherlands, Australia, and Norway as well as two integration cases in Canada are discussed through both a macro and micro investigation. To conclude, the institutional integration/merger in higher education can be very complex, and thus clear-cut policies and supporting measures are necessary to ensure its success. In addition, as the outcome of an integration/merger can take on different meanings with different groups of people, the evaluation of any integration/merger project may have to be conducted from multiple perspectives.