Higher education policies around the world has been experiencing tremendous changes in the last fifty years. This paper adopts a framing approach to help us make sense of the reforms in the higher education sector in Western Europe. It shows the various policy frames that drive these reforms, the diverse politics that are promoted by these policy frames, and the potential winners and losers resulting from framing and reframing. The paper concludes by reflecting how internationalisation forces shape the processes of framing and reframing, particularly in light of the emergent COVID-19 epidemic.
