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This thesis examines the evolving ideas and expectations surrounding higher education, focusing on the consultation processes preceding four major reforms of the Swedish higher education system. The study aims to understand how universities and societal stakeholders – including government agencies, trade unions, business organisations, and student unions – defined and justified the idea and function of higher education during these critical junctures. It explores how competing views on higher education’s purpose, organisation, and funding were negotiated in response to societal and labour market changes.

The analysis adopts a socio-rhetorical perspective, treating consultation responses as strategic discursive acts reflecting power relations and institutional positions. By integrating pragmatics and sociology, four central elements are emphasised: the situation of the statement, genre, the dialogical dimension, and institutional conditions. These elements illuminate how values and arguments about the idea and function of higher education have been shaped and framed over time. The empirical material consists of consultation responses preceding major higher education reforms from the latter half of the 20th century to the early 21st century. The study analyses the responses submitted by universities, university colleges, and other societal stakeholders and how their statements were shaped by their institutional and historical contexts, focusing on the language, strategies, and perspectives employed.

The findings reveal a significant shift in the idea and function of higher education over time. In the 1960s and 1970s, consultation responses often emphasised academic freedom, Bildung, and societal welfare. By the 1990s, these values were increasingly replaced by market-driven priorities, including efficiency, competitiveness, and alignment with labour market demands. The results also highlight how universities themselves transformed during this period, moving from collegial governance to hierarchical management structures. This organisational shift diminished collegial influence and redefined universities as actors within the framework of public administration.

The thesis concludes that higher education remains a contested arena where external pressures and internal conflicts continuously reshape its idea and function. By analysing consultation responses as reflections of these dynamics, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of how language, power, and institutional transformation have shaped the idea and function of Swedish higher education.