Over the past 30 years and 123 issues of International Higher Education, both the world and higher education have changed enormously. The publication has both followed these changes and made adaptations to them, but, in essence, its guiding principles, as well as its unique position, have remained the same.

In its first issue (Spring 1995), Philip G. Altbach wrote that International Higher Education (IHE) would provide information and analysis not available elsewhere and serve as a forum for information, debate, and discussion about the central issues facing higher education, with a particular concern for universities in what was then called “the Third World.” He stated: “International Higher Education is the first publication to approach higher education with a commitment to exploring the spiritual and moral responsibilities of academic institutions and academic communities throughout the world.” Thirty years and 123 issues later, both the world and higher education have changed enormously. IHE has both followed these changes and made adaptations to them, but, in essence, its guiding principles, as well as its unique position, have remained the same. In 2020, a study of the first 100 issues of IHE confirmed that the journal’s content had remained both geographically diverse and thematically rich, giving voice to a broad range of scholars, policy makers, and practitioners from all regions around the globe. This has not changed over the past five years. The 2024 book International Dimensions and Trends in Higher Education in Troubled Times, which offers a selection of 100 IHE articles published between 2018 and 2023, illustrates this clearly. It shows “an effort to foster a common identity, values, and social responsibility, while challenging existing norms and advocating inclusivity and civic engagement.” As Philip G. Altbach wrote in issue 120 in 2024: “We have kept to these core missions during three decades of ongoing dramatic changes in the landscape of global higher education—notably dramatic massification, the emergence of the global knowledge economy, the flowering of internationalization, and, recently, significant geopolitical tensions.”

What Makes IHE Unique?

At the time of the foundation of the Center for International Higher Education (CIHE) and IHE in 1995, as we wrote in our account of the history of CIHE, “there was no established field that stressed postsecondary education in the global context. And although it has matured, it is still marginal in relation to its importance.” There have been other centers and publications addressing international higher education, but the continuity of CIHE and IHE is unique. In large part, this is due to their functioning as an international network, a model which provides a global platform for analysis, discussion, and dissemination. What other dimensions make IHE unique? It was open access before the concept even existed, and continues to be so. Its open access has allowed for a wide circulation of its articles, through partnerships with University World News, the International Association of Universities (IAU), and associations of universities in Africa and India. It is not only published in the dominant English language but also translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese and, until recently, Russian. There is a Chinese edition with a selection of articles from IHE, and, in 2025, the first annual issue of Ta’leem will be published, with a selection of articles from IHE translated into Arabic. These factors make IHE likely the most widely distributed and read publication on higher education in the world.

Another factor is its style. IHE is not a magazine nor an academic journal. It is focused on policy and practice in international higher education. Providing news is not its primary focus; there are other sources that do so. It also does not include references (although it now includes links to other sources), and it is not exclusively research-based, although it is referenced and cited quite frequently in scholarly and professional publications.

Is There a Future for IHE?

Given the increase in attention to and dissemination of trends and developments in international higher education, is there still a need for IHE in the coming decades? Its evolution over the past 30 years has prepared the publication for its future. It has evolved from a small print issue mailed around the globe to an online publication that allows access both to entire issues and individual articles. After an appreciated short period of five years with the German publisher DUZ Verlags- und Medienhaus (issues 100–120), it has returned home to CIHE, guaranteeing its autonomy and dissemination without subscription costs.

As we wrote in the 2024 book, IHE “is an invitation to reevaluate our understanding of the international dimensions of higher education on a global scale, emphasizing the ever-evolving nature of the field.”

Hans de Wit and Philip G. Altbach are emeritus professors and distinguished fellows at the Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, United States. E-mails: [email protected] and [email protected].