Abstract
A common claim about universities is that they are among the world's oldest institutions. The chapter discusses that innovation may entail deeper consideration as an important component that impacts the evolution of higher education in the twenty first century. It demonstrating how continuous change and variation in academic life has been present even as continuity has been valorised and also identifies three primary challenges that threaten to transform the traditional view of academic life. First, globalisation has made knowledge-intensive trade central to economic development in the twenty-first century. Second, national governments are fundamentally changing the nature and extent with which they have historically allocated funding to their universities. Third, the growing prevalence of competency based learning could clarify the relationship between institutions, credentials, students and employers. The chapter has the argument on a review of the literature on innovation and change, as well as primary literature about the nature of higher education.