Abstract: This articles examines factors that underscored higher education reforms in Central and Eastern Europe during the transition period from 1990 to 2005, and present the major themes in the literature. The study explores higher education reforms in three national settings – Hungary, Romania and the Republic of Moldova. Rooted in critical approaches to development, transition reforms and policy analysis in higher education, it addresses the new realities of global capitalism, inequitable distribution of power between the industrialized nations and the rest of the world, and the ways in which this power distribution impacts higher education systems in Central and Eastern Europe.