Everyone from parents to policymakers has an interest in the mission of higher education, yet in many cases, the shifting relationship between public and private goods and public and private purposes has complicated that mission. Recent changes in organization, funding, and assessment have also altered the public purpose of universities. In this collection, scholars from around the world confront the realities of higher education and the future of its public and private agenda. Their perspective illuminates the trajectory of education in the twenty-first century and the continuing importance of the university’s public mission. Reporting from Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and North America, scholars confront the realities of higher education and the future of its public and private agenda. Their perspective illuminates the trajectory of education in the twenty-first century and the continuing importance of the university’s public mission. Contributors focus on the research university and its effort to create new knowledge. They examine the implications of different administrative and policy decisions and the significance of various approaches to assessment and evaluation. Essays track the shifting relationship between public and private goods and purposes, such as whether student access should award individual achievement or function as an investment in social contribution, or whether scientific research should be treated as private intellectual property or as an open-access resource. Is it right for a university to serve the economic interests of private corporations, and if so, what are the limits of beneficiary pay? Instead of reducing these questions to elements of good and bad, this anthology empirically assesses how they play out in practice and sets a new standard for research on global institutional policy.