The future is open and the 22 authors in Prospects of higher education explore it from three perspectives: the world as a whole, the Americas, and particular localities and regions. Moving beyond nation-centered analysis of states and markets, Prospects uses concepts of public and private goods to map the potentials for global trade and university rankings, common knowledge benefits and multilateral policy action, national stratification and the wash-back effects in systems and institutions. Broad and imaginative, methodologically innovative and policy sharp, this book has much for government and university leaders, scholars of higher education and anyone interested in public policy.