The emergence of interest in the quantitative, structural, and administrative aspects of higher education as a field of study is chronicled, and comparisons are made in the ways the institutional research field developed in the United States and Western Europe. (MSE)

Notes that over the quarter-century of the Council for Economic Co-operation and Development's Program on Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE), study of higher education has developed considerably. New disciplines have emerged, new ideologies have altered perspectives, and higher education's priorities continue to change.…

In Western Europe, the advent of higher education as a self-sustaining field of research began two decades ago. The place of higher education research in academia, government policy formulation, and the type of inquiry undertaken in Sweden in comparison with counterparts in France and Britain are examined. (Author/MLW)

Suggests that the study of contemporary history can provide a vehicle for testing the validity of theories developed in higher education policy studies. Greater attention to the cultural and historic contexts of higher education, particularly in cross-national studies, is urged. (MSE)