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This publication focuses on distance higher education, with an emphasis on the lifelong learner, and in the light of the increasing need for international co-operation and for co-ordinated policies in areas such as quality assurance, funding and appropriate use of ICTs. It contains papers by experts on the various topics covered and aims to provide current information on the important relevant issues, problems and trends, and practical advice for educational planners and decision-makers. The introductory chapter provides an overview of the issues to be discussed. Chapters two and three provide a broad background survey, indicating some of the general trends, issues and challenges in the area of distance higher education and lifelong learning at their current stage of development. Chapter four examines funding. Chapters five, six and seven cover the experiences of Senegal, China and Finland, in order to provide useful insights and policy lessons. Chapters eight, nine and ten look at key overarching issues such as quality assurance, accreditation, recognition of qualifications for certification, and cross-border student mobility, describing some important national and international initiatives in these areas. Chapter 11 focuses on the need for a sound and constantly growing base of research to inform the planning and implementation of effective distance and lifelong education programs. At the end of each of the main chapters is a checklist of policy implications relating to the area covered by the author, i.e. specific lessons that can be used by planners and policy-makers. Each chapter contains a bibliography, notes, and a list of relevant websites. The final chapter synthesises the main threads of the book and identifies some of the broad implications for the future that can be drawn from it. The chapters are as follows: Introduction / Christopher McIntosh; Lifelong learning for equity and social cohesion: a new challenge for higher education / Suzy Halimi; The impact of ICT on lifelong learning / Mary Thorpe; Approaches to funding / Greville Rumble and Fredric M. Litto; Lifelong learning in the African context: a practical example from Senegal / Olivier Sagna; The Chinese approach / Ding Xingfu, Gu Xiaoquing and Zhu Zhiting; Quality assurance survey of mega universities / Insung Jung; The higher education open and distance learning knowledge base / Zeynep Varoglu; The Finnish Virtual University and Finland's path to a learning society / Marja Kylama; Promoting cross-border recognition and mobility developments in the Netherlands / Jindra Divis, Astrid Scholten and Anne Marie Mak; Charting the evolution of lifelong learning and distance higher education: the role of research / Tony Bates; Conclusion / Christopher McIntosh.