"Asia Pacific higher education is in a state of continuous transition. This volume provides explanatory frames for the complex nature of this transition by examining four oft-cited "explanations" for the contemporary Asian university. One of these explanations/hypotheses holds that minor differences aside, the dominant higher education form and practices are derived from Western models. Another explanation seeks to trace historical elements of Asia higher education that have been carried forward into the contemporary. A third explanation focuses on the dominant role that societal economic development has played in contemporary Asia and the importance of higher education in assisting such development. A final explanation focuses on the increasing importance that global models of higher education are playing in the formation and development of the contemporary Asian university"--