Universities are a significant form of national investment. Given that public higher education institutions consume considerable amounts of public funds, what is a reasonable expectation of return? More specifically, in a country in which public institutions are being restructured as part of a newly-established democratic order, what can be expected of universities, both in terms of their own transformation, and in the contribution they make to the transformation of society? This question has been intensely debated in South Africa. The National Commission for Higher Education set up an extensive raft of working groups and expert groups, and numerous specialist reports which culminated in the Commission’s report, published in 1996. Four years later, a second series of investigations culminated in the National Plan for Higher Education. More recently, the Presidency has engaged with the South African Vice Chancellors’ Association (now Higher Education South Africa) and new working groups are being established around the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (ASGISA). South Africa is not alone in this intense focus on national university systems and their roles and responsibilities. In a world in which economic growth and national competitiveness depends on high-level education and the opportunity for continually re-skilling the workforce, governments tend to be anxious about the return on investment in education. In response, those working in universities become nervous about utilitarian policies that may not respect the autonomy of institutions, the broader social benefits of university education, and the principles of academic freedom.