There is no doubt that the face of tertiary education is changing. The wealth of opportunities presented by globalization has unlocked doors in the higher education market and will have far-reaching consequences for the global labor force. With this in mind, institutions of higher learning will need to address the challenges presented by prevailing trends.

These trends and the corresponding challenges were identified in a 2008 report commissioned by APRU and the Pacific Education Cooperation Council (PECC) which also expands on several themes including the crucial role of tertiary education in the economic development and civic well-being of countries and the region as a whole. As the cross-border growth of programs and providers rise along with increasing student mobility, the report found that tertiary education will continue to privatize, with the entrance of new providers operating in a variety of modes of supply and with diversified sources of funding. This will, in turn, introduce challenges with respect to quality assurance and the future of accreditation. The higher education sector is expected to evolve not only at a rapid rate but also in multiple ways, which will present a lack of clarity about how to proceed or work together at the organizational, country and regional levels.

Apart from these, the report discusses evaporating boundaries within the Asia-Pacific education market and the implications of education as a function of trade and foreign investment. It also considers how the increasing professionalization of the workforce will heighten competition across countries for highly educated students. To manage these challenges successfully, tertiary institutions are evolving with expansionary business models which bear in mind the various trends which have been identified, and look into creating cross-border, long-term research relationships across institutions.