ABSTRACT
The study of higher education is an academic field within the broader discipline of education that has traditionally drawn upon theoretical paradigms from other social science disciplines, including the life systems disciplines in addition to history, business, and economics. This chapter identifies the core knowledge of higher education. It reviews the literature on the analyses of higher education programs and the knowledge domains of the field. The development of higher education institutions as organizations and the influence of the environment on the evolution of these institutions and systems are fundamental to understanding higher education as a field of study. The study of how a curriculum is developed, along with the concepts and principles to enhance learning and assess learning, is one of the fundamental domains of higher education as a field of study. Understanding curricular planning, development, and assessment in a feedback loop is an essential core domain of knowledge in the study of higher education.
