Higher education in the face of social challenges

Higher education refers to the subsequent training to high school education, that is undergraduate and graduate, whose mission is to preserve, develop and disseminate culture. Throughout the history of higher education it has undergone a process of transformation, mainly due to the development of knowledge and the transformation of society. In the process they highlighted two great moments; in the first, which culminated in the mid-twentieth century, it conceived the higher education institution encompassing all knowledge of society, and who graduated was ready to perform professionally throughout life; the second time, after those dates, it is conceivable that knowledge is no longer exclusive to the institution of higher education, and there can be no efficient performance without continuous training and continuous updating of knowledge. The objective of this work is to point out the general goals and some strategies of the students' formation of superior education, to confront the big challenges that it faces today the society. To define this goals and strategies four challenge levels are considered: a) physical, structural and political-ideological challenges; b) challenges around the scientific-technician and of the knowledge advances; c) challenges of the internal structure of the formative process and the access to the superior education, and d) challenges in the formation of values in the students.