Higher education has been a coveted policy domain in Malaysia. Political dynamics and shifting emphasis in policy not only shape the higher education system but hold deep implications for the institutional and educational life of universities.

The first four decades after independence saw the government tightening its control over universities and corporatizing and liberalizing the higher education sector before elevating the importance of higher education by establishing the Ministry of Higher Education in 2004.

However, since becoming a stand-alone ministry, the...