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This paper provides a historical overview of the development of higher education research in South Africa by focusing on past achievements and conditions, and present and future challenges. An attempt is made to point out the changes in both the context and paradigm of higher education research. The authors illustrate how research foci and methods were shaped by the political agenda of the “old” South Africa, and highlight the issues which higher education currently and in the future will have to address as part of the transformation process of not only higher education, but of South African society as a whole.