Pandemics have been, by their very nature, disruptive and have produced long-lasting change. The current pandemic is no exception to creating chaos and disruption, and higher education is not immune to its disruption. The virus has shed a spotlight on many of higher education's inefficiencies and antiquated educational delivery paradigms, but it has also presented higher education with opportunities to create new and better ways of educating students in the future. Pandemics and disruptions are not the usual companions of higher education's reverence for logic and reason. The dark alchemy of fear and uncertainty are walking the halls of many academic institutions worldwide, often paralyzing clear thinking and hampering bold decision-making. This article focuses on the impact, to date, of COVID-19 on higher education, the economic and competitive factors impacting higher education, and international student mobility trends in the United States and China. This article also outlines some of the opportunities and obstacles that might be expected going forward.