In spite of all the dialectics as to whether education is a social or investment good, there is no doubt that it is a universal good which man should strive to receive as a life long venture. Adequate investments in education facilitate the achievement of most other development goals and increase the probability that progress will be sustained. However, the various challenges being faced by higher education in most countries of the world especially in the area of effective, efficient productive function, widening of access and participation, have dwarfed the various visions and missions of these institutions. The funding dilemma; "massification" of higher education; curriculum and pedagogical deficiencies; quality assurance bottlenecks; out-dated technologies for learning teaching and research; lack of academic freedom and autonomy; weak knowledge creation; limited access and regional disparities; corruption and inefficiency; political interference among other problems, have ambushed higher education and held it hostage in most countries of the world especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. This paper observes that the aforementioned problems have negatively impacted on access and meaningful participation of citizens in higher education. In a globalized-knowledge based economy therefore, templates for action plans geared towards strategizing higher education for optimal performance should be instituted. These action plans include making enough funds available to fast-track developments in the system, including the provision of physical facilities and cutting-edge technologies for learning, teaching and research; removal of all impediments affecting the widening of access and participation in higher education; and a deliberate effort put in place to ensure quality assurance, curriculum and pedagogical harmonization, relevance of programmes to national economics and sustainability.