ABSTRACT
Even a cursory glance at the current global knowledge economy highlights inequalities in the higher education landscape. The desire to create world-class internationally competitive universities is not exclusive to developed countries. However, significantly improving an institution’s rank is difficult without the financial resources to attract international academic talent. The US, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Russia, Japan and Canada remain the most attractive study destinations, and Asian countries have become vital to the revenue streams of top institutions in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. However, with financial projections showing a dramatic shift in economic power toward Asia and several emerging economies, the tide may slowly be turning, particularly if internationally mobile staff are lured away from the West. Developing nations are left to decide whether an aspirational rank is worth leveraging funds from other important areas such as student finance support initiatives, educational delivery effectiveness and other important initiatives like community engagement into a more research focused agenda.
