Title page -- Copyright page -- Contents -- Editors' Notes -- 1: Institutional Research in Light of Internationalization, Growth, and Competition -- Introduction -- Internationalization as an Institutional Imperative -- Growth and Expansion of Higher Education -- Growth and Diversity of Enrollments -- Growth in Higher Education Providers -- Expansion of Curricula -- Commercialization of Curricula -- Additional Mission: Economic Growth and Development -- Rising Costs in Higher Education -- Costs, Return on Investment, and Accountability -- The Nature of Competition in Higher Education -- Competition for Students -- Competition for Government Support -- Summary -- 2: Institutional Research in Emerging Countries of Southern Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa: Global Frameworks and Local Practices -- Introduction -- Origin and Need for IR in Emerging Countries -- Quality Assurance and Institutional Research -- The Global and the Local in IR Practices -- Knowledge and Skills in IR -- The Future of IR in Emerging Countries -- 3: Challenges in Developing Data Collection Systems in a Rapidly Evolving Higher Education Environment -- National and Federal Higher Education Data Systems in the United States -- Australian Higher Education Data Collections -- Common Structure and Definitions. -- Institutional Performance: KPIs, Ranking, and Benchmarking. -- Ranking and Benchmarking in Australia. -- South African Higher Education Data Collections -- Developing a Census of European Higher Education Institutions: The EUMIDA Project -- The HESA Benchmarking Project in the United Kingdom -- Conclusions and Implications -- Intentionality. -- Collaboration. -- Transparency. -- The IR Impact. -- 4: The Evolution and Practice of Institutional Research -- Introduction -- Definitions and Practice -- Institutional Research as a Profession.

Some Further Considerations -- Summary -- 5: Institutional Research in the Future: Challenges Within Higher Education and the Need for Excellence in Professional Practice -- Introduction -- The Historical Role of IR in Higher Education -- Place of IR Within Higher Education -- IR and a New Environment -- The Future Skills of IR Professionals -- Conclusion -- Index.