The new millennium is upon us. The challenges are daunting--access, expansion, privatization, distance education, technology, and the rest. But let us take a minute to reflect on the successes of the past half century in higher education before we get too depressed about the prospects for the future. The fact is that the higher education is a major force in practically every society, and that on balance academic institutions have met severe challenges with reasonable success. The universities are at the center of today's knowledge-based economies. The postsecondary system has provided access to unprecedented numbers of students. With more than 100 million students enrolled worldwide, higher education has moved from an elite enterprise to a mass phenomenon. These are real accomplishments that are all too often forgotten in the waves of criticism that dominate the popular press in many countries. It may be useful to enumerate some of academe's accomplishments.

Massification and Differentiation
Most countries have successfully expanded their higher education systems. Massification has been accompanied by a differentiated academic system of institutions with a variety of purposes operating at different levels of quality. The traditional research university is still the pinnacle of most academic systems, but it is no longer the sole model for postsecondary education. Most wealthy and middle-income countries now educate more than 30 percent of the relevant age group in postsecondary education--this is up from under 10 percent or less just two to three decades ago. Many developing countries have doubled access as well. This unique wave of expansion worldwide has added to the knowledge and skills base of society.

Research
Universities are the key research institutions in most countries. They are the central source for basic research, and as such have provided the underpinning of many of the innovations of modern society. To take just one field, the basic technology that went into the computer and the Internet itself had their origins in universities. Universities are the essential sources of new knowledge in almost all fields. They combine research with teaching in an atmosphere of free inquiry that provides the necessary conditions for productive research.

Social Mobility
Higher education provides unprecedented opportunities for social mobility and improvement in most societies. Bright students from poor backgrounds are able to obtain an education and improve their prospects. Everywhere, higher education increases income levels. Academe has opened up to women practically everywhere, with more women obtaining degrees, and joining the academic profession. Inequalities remain, but progress has been impressive.

Differentiated Funding
In most countries, academe has found multiple sources of funding. While government in many places remains the key fiscal base for higher education, postsecondary education now obtains money from a much wider array of sources. These include students and their families, philanthropic foundations and individuals, corporations that pay for research and development, consulting fees, patent and other income, and even the sale of sweatshirts. Less dependence on a single source of money has to some extent insulated academe from the vagaries of governmental policies.

Internationalization
Postsecondary education is more international than at any time since its origins in medieval Europe, when the common language of instruction was Latin. An unprecedented number of students?more than one million?are studying outside the borders of their home countries. There is an international academic labor market, with scholars and researchers routinely crossing borders for jobs. Perhaps most important, knowledge production and dissemination are international in scope, with research teams cooperating across borders and much of scientific communication taking place in English--in many ways the Latin of the 21st century. The curriculum is slowly becoming internationalized as well, and some parts of the world, most notably the European Union, are moving toward common degree structures and mutual recognition of academic qualifications.

Academic Freedom and Freedom of Inquiry
While there are still restrictions on research and, in some cases, teaching and expression in a number of countries, academic freedom has made remarkable progress in the past half century. There is a recognition that for academic institutions to be effective they must be allowed freedom of inquiry.

Higher Education and the Civil Society
Universities contribute to the cultural and political life of modern society. They are not only the source of expertise on everything from genetic engineering to classical Greek, but are also the place where controversial issues are debated in an atmosphere of inquiry. Universities are among the few places in modern society where objective analysis takes place. It is not surprising that so many respected experts hold appointments in universities. Academic institutions are central to a civil society, and have, under sometimes difficult circumstances, been able to maintain their independence.

Academic institutions are not perfect, yet they have been remarkably successful during a half century of challenges. Their much criticized conservatism has permitted them to maintain their core values?autonomy, commitment to research and teaching without intellectual restrictions, and the conviction that ideas are important. At the same time, they have adapted to new circumstances. Differentiated academic systems have joined the elite universities, the curriculum has been broadened. Back in the 1960s, British scholar Sir Eric Ashby characterized the United States academic system as "any person, any study." At the beginning of the 21st century, much of the world has joined the United States in offering academic diversity to large numbers. This is a considerable accomplishment.