1 Higher education in the Asia-Pacific: The certain rise of the “Confucian Model” and the uncertain prospects for regionalisation Simon Marginson 1 HEEACT conference, 4 June 2010 Abstract. The paper provides an overview of higher education and university- related research across the Asia-Pacific. It begins with a statistical comparison of population, economy and education in the region. Then it examines the role of government in higher education in the region, noting that both state investment and private investment are playing dynamic roles—but only in a few cases does this happen in the same national systems. These systems are the “Confucian” nations of East Asia. Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have joined Japan as knowledge economies operating at levels of investment and outcomes comparable to Northwestern Europe, and China is moving rapidly towards this. The paper compares national performances in research, discussing the rise of China and the other Confucian “innovation tigers”, and the slower trajectory of the knowledge economy in India and elsewhere. It also examines the relationship between government funding and the growth of tertiary participation. A recent study of the relationship between education funding and tertiary access at world level and in the Asia-Pacific, finds that in the Asia-Pacific region taken as a whole, there is no statistically significant relationship between government funding of secondary and tertiary education, and tertiary participation levels. Household funding has been the dynamic element in financing tertiary expansion. Some Confucian nations are also characterized by large private sectors. The emerging “Confucian Model” of higher education combines high or advancing levels of student participation that are part-funded or largely funded by households, with an accelerated state investment in R&D, facilitated by the relatively high private contribution to the costs of student learning. The closing section reflects on the potential for regional identity and organization in Asia-Pacific higher education. 1 Centre for the Study of Higher Education, Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne. Email: s.marginson@unimelb,edu.au . An early version of part of this paper was prepared for Higher Education in the Asia- Pacific: Strategic responses to globalization, Eds. Simon Marginson, Sarjit Kaur and Erlenawati Sawir (Springer, Dordrecht, forthcoming).