The Global Higher Education Landscape: Challenges and Opportunities

The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica W.I., Friday, September 4, 2026—The following editorial is authored by Professor Canute S. Thompson, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Undergraduate Studies, The University of the West Indies.

The future of higher education, and universities in particular, faces substantial challenges.  A few facts illustrate the dire realities.  In the United Kingdom, about fifty (50) universities face the risk of closure in the next few years, and half are on the brink of insolvency.  In the United States, the picture is even bleaker.  Between the Global Recession (2008) and the immediate post-COVID era (ending 2024), between three hundred (300) and five hundred (500) degree-granting colleges and universities have closed, according to various reports from University World News and The Change Leader, Inc. 

Closures have been reported in several parts of Asia.  In China, which has the largest number of universities among Asian countries, no facilities have closed, but the government has undertaken a major strategic overhaul of academic programmes, cutting over 12,000 programmes between 2021 and 2024.  In Canada, reports indicate that universities and colleges have not experienced closures on the scale seen in Asia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, but funding for public universities and colleges has fallen. Estimates suggest funding for public institutions is currently about 48%, down from about 67% in 2008.  Compounding the crisis for USA, UK, and Canadian universities are new visa policies that have drastically reduced the number of international students accessing universities in these countries. These policies have badly hurt many universities’ finances.

Closures have also occurred in Africa and Latin America, but often for different reasons than in other jurisdictions. Some reasons for university closures in Africa include regulatory crackdowns on illegal or low-quality institutions and demographic shifts. And while there have been closures, hundreds of state-approved universities have opened across Africa and Latin America.

The Caribbean Reality

In the Caribbean, about one hundred (100) universities and a few dozen offshore universities operate across various Caribbean countries.  While a few private universities and colleges across the Caribbean have closed, most large institutions, including those that receive state funding, have remained open, even though all face severe financial challenges.

Despite the relatively large number of local/regional and overseas universities operating in the Caribbean, university enrolment among high school graduates is low, ranging from 15% to 27% across Caribbean countries.  In addition, an unspecified number of Caribbean students attend universities overseas.  Together, these two facts (low university enrolment in the Caribbean and demand for overseas university places) are a positive for Caribbean universities from a business perspective.  In other words, there are prospects for growing the “university” business given that consumption is currently low (a function of a variety of factors), given the tools that exist to stimulate demand, and given the developmental imperative to increase demand for university education and facilitate access to it.

The Twin Imperatives: Stimulating Demand and Increasing Access
I frame the demand case around the growing sentiment among many high school graduates, university degree holders, and business leaders that a university degree is not worth the sacrifice and cost, because the advantage it is supposed to provide is not being experienced.  I have spoken with leaders and students across the Caribbean, many of whom question the value of a university education. Some leaders question how well students are being equipped for the workplace, and some students question the value of the effort. A July 2026 Gallup Poll found that public confidence in higher education has fallen from 57% in 2015 to 38% in 2026.  There is widespread acknowledgement that higher education faces an enrolment crisis.  According to UNESCO data, about a decade and a half ago, 21 million students (85%, about 18 million of them undergraduates) were registered in universities globally. The undergraduate population now stands at 15.5 million, down 14%.

The reality raises a two-part question, namely: How useful/attractive are the products universities are selling, and how much are people prepared to pay for them?  Given that some attitudes are that the products are not useful/attractive, lowering the price (creating access) would not be the answer. Thus, we need to address product relevance and utility.

State and Institution Partnership

Yes, a university education is primarily intended to provide the critical-thinking skills to support the attainment of independence and the ability to create jobs, but are people believing that as much as they should and even so, can they afford it? Therefore, there is a need to stimulate demand – which is the role of universities, and to facilitate access, which is a role shared by universities and the State, particularly in developing countries.  This is then a collective effort.

The Caribbean is one of only two regions globally with a regional university.  As a regional entity, The UWI is an asset whose resources must be leveraged to advance the region’s development.  Whatever the other descriptions The UWI may attract, it is principally a tool for regional development. 

The Mandate of the Moment and Beyond: Grasping the Opportunities

The challenges facing higher education also offer opportunities.  To take advantage of these opportunities, I suggest some initiatives, and the strengthening of efforts around those being employed, namely:

• Programmes that target students affected by shifts in global geopolitics, particularly visa policies and taxes on international students. This requires offering internationally accredited programmes to make them attractive to international students.
• Developing robust and responsive micro-credentials systems with keen attention to product offering, design, pricing, and market usefulness.
• Adopting China’s model and undertaking radical reviews of programmes and courses and assessing their relevance to market needs.
• Centering work-based learning so as to ensure that more students graduate with relevant work experience.
• Ensuring greater levels of relevance in graduate research, thus inspiring businesses and governments to lean more heavily and openly on knowledge generation from universities.
• Utilising more creative means to communicate research outputs to ensure that broader cross-sections of Caribbean society have easy access to research data, information, and insights. Scholars need to use social media to share the knowledge they are generating while maintaining engagement with traditional outlets.
• Establishing systems for enabling undergraduate students (who make up the bulk of university populations) to be involved in business- and industry-aligned research with their lecturers and professors.
• Promoting entrepreneurship as a central component of the undergraduate studies experience, while building students’ leadership skills.