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The great effort of humankind to organize itself for the common good must change with changing environments. For thousands of years our environment was largely agricultural, where value attached primarily to land. Three centuries ago, agriculture began to yield to industry, as machines took center stage, along with standardized processes and the efficiencies of scale. But in the last few decades, Agricultural Society and Industrial Society have gradually been displaced by what has been called the Knowledge Society, propelled by new digital technology and the expansion of cyberspace. As a result, enormous social influence has been transferred from the owners and workers of farms and factories, to those whom we now call “Knowledge Workers,” people who create and exchange information. For them, power attaches more to ideas and values than to money or physical force. Among them, power itself is widely dispersed. Today knowledge is the most powerful thing of our lives. Today those people are in demand in the world that possesses specialized knowledge in their field. Knowledge and creativity are the prime driving forces and engine of today’s global economic growth. In this paper I talk about the growing importance of knowledge, research and innovation which is ultimately changing the social role of universities in the globalized world. I also analyze tremendous challenges that higher education is facing in terms of access of knowledge, performance of knowledge and creativity in knowledge to meet the demands of this knowledge society. Finally I talk about the approaches of higher education with regard to its education policies, curriculum and teaching and learning practices. Key terms Knowledge society, higher education, access performance and creativity, curriculum, education policies, teaching and learning practices, pluralistic society