1 Balancing Centralization and Decentralization in Iraqi Higher Education Sufyan Faraj Al-Janabi College of Computers, University of Anbar, Iraq sufyantaih@yahoo.com David Anderson College of Education, Eastern Michigan University, USA danderson@emich.edu Abstract: The aim of this paper is to investigate the best approach to enhance the state of higher education (HE) system in Iraq so that it can be more competitive in this new age of education globalization. During the last four decades, Iraqi HE has been administrated in a highly centralized manner. However, many academics in Iraq now believe that, in order to significantly enhance the quality of Iraqi HE, it is necessary to have more decentralization in the system. This paper outlines the present state of the Iraqi HE system, emphasizing its most relevant problems. Then, we propose a double-sided strategy for addressing these problems: specifically, we consider both top-down and bottom-up approaches for rehabilitating the Iraqi HE system. Some important milestones that need to be considered in this enhancement process are emphasized. Indeed, as the proposed approach includes the various levels in the hierarchy of higher education, the paper also covers a case study for applying modern higher teaching techniques to a sample course curriculum. Keywords: Decentralization, e-learning, higher education, Iraq, private teaching. 1. Introduction In general, it is possible to describe the hierarchy of a higher education system to be composed of three main levels. At the center is the technical core of the whole system where professors are teaching and students are learning in their classrooms and laboratories. The second and middle level is the managerial level where administrators (such as department Heads, college Deans, etc.) are buffering and bridging between the other two levels. Finally, the outer level is the institutional level where administrators like university presidents and their support staff are dealing with the external institutional environment [Thompson 2007]. This is depicted in Figure 1.