20 世紀，香港高等教育發展經歷了發源、成型及體系完善的過程。香港高等教育的發展是香港社會經濟發展需要與英國殖民教育政策控制共同作用的結果，它既形成了若干體制特徵，也存在著一些極待解決的問題。自 1997 年香港回歸以來，香港高等教育政策開始走向自治。本文介紹了 20世紀香港高等教育的四個發展階段，並對其百年發展史作出總體評價。

In recent years the number of students entering higher education in China’s inland has soared to unprecedented levels. Courses at colleges of further education offering access to higher education are now commonplace. Opportunities for mature students to return to higher education have also increased. Partnerships are being formed with employers and others to provide lifelong learning for employees.
As a result of the sheer physical size and population dispersion in China’s inland, many potential students have been denied equal access to courses because they are not geographically convenient. To satisfy both the demands of students and to maintain quality, a long-term view of flexibility in higher education would prove more practical. Web based learning and more traditional on-site methods of delivery can co-exist and, with rigorous quality control, lead to substantial improvements to both modes of delivery as well as research activity.
In this paper, the author argues that web based teaching may provide the best solution to the difficulties involved in higher education reform in China’s inland. The future, in terms of information technology, is here to be exploited. Meeting the challenges of such a large educational market, whilst maintaining quality, will entail a radical review of how course quality is assessed. The author further compares the situation in Hong Kong and China’s inland.

Sovereignty retrocession, economic globalization, and cultural affinity have brought Hong Kong and China’s inland much closer together since 1997. This paper focuses on how this has affected higher education by raising two questions: To what extent have these two university systems converged? What has globalization and national reunion done to the academic values, and traditions that underlie each system’s academy? The questions are addressed through the themes of expansion, marketization, and internationalization in higher education. While a virtual incorporation of Hong Kong’s higher education system into the national system has taken place, the Hong Kong system has maintained a unique international identity. Moreover, the medium of instruction, composition of the professoriate, and legal provisions on institutional autonomy in the Hong Kong system remain significant differences.

高等教育的結構問題是高等教育大眾化發展過程中產生的重要問題和難題。中國內地和香港目前的高等教育毛人學率已經達到並超過 15 % ，結構問題也已成為困擾兩地高等教育可持續健康發展的關鍵。香港和中國內地雖然在教育制度和經濟背景方面存在著差異，但在尋求建立一個既滿足數量擴大又保證較高品質的高等教育結構體系上，卻有著很多相似的做法。對比兩地在大眾化和精英兩個發展方向上存在的結構問題，對於增進相互瞭解和借鑒有重要的意義。

本文從通識教育理念、通識課程目標與設置、課程教學與管理等方面，對中國大陸和香港、臺灣地區高等學校的通識課程進行了比較分析，探討了中國大陸高校通識課程存在的問題與不足。作者認為，中國大陸高等教育對通識教育的理解尚停留於表面，只是注重文理交叉等學科知識層面，沒有深入到人格養成、情感陶冶等層面；通識課程的設置也隨意性較大，缺乏統一課程理念的指導；通識課程的教學有待於提高品質，管理也需要進一步加以改進。