Finnish higher education is in transition. The processes involved in the expansion of higher education in Finland have created a national higher education system which has spread its influence throughout the country (see the cover picture and page 30). In addition, globalisation of higher education has begun to affect the dynamics of national systems of higher education. The book is intended to describe not only what has happened in Finnish higher education or to pinpoint the recent changes but also to analyse and explain what these changes mean: what are the directions in which Finnish higher education is moving in its transition? The authors work as researchers and senior researchers in the Higher Education Studies Research team based at the Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä.