The problem of this study was the status of higher education in Haiti. The purposes were to analyze the organization, administration, and contributions of higher education to national development from 1958 to 1988 and to provide background information from foreign literature which might assist in the improvement Haiti's system of higher education. In an effort to locate information necessary to achieve these purposes, a computer search was conducted. A survey of available literature in French, Creole, and English and personal and telephone interviews were also conducted. The results of this study reveal that, in the past three decades, higher education in Haiti has merely functioned as a symbol of social prestige. Haiti's system of higher education exhibits no apparent direction, purpose, of long-term goals. With more than 90 percent of its professors part-time and ill-prepared, its curriculum unrelated to the needs of Haitian society, and its student body in revolt for the past three years, higher education in Haiti is urgently in need of radical reform. Any contribution made to national development by the system of higher education is weak at best. The small but oppressive elite group that dominates the economic and political realms in Haiti has proved to be a stumbling block to educational reform. The prospect of the establishment of an adequate system of education depends heavily on the establishment of a democratic government. The State University, which is the prominent instrument for higher education, must be reorganized and strengthened so that it can meet the basic academic standards of a university. This reorganization must include the redesign of the curriculum and the retraining of current professors. It is urgent that the qualitative aspects of higher education be given attention. Higher education should also develop a working relationship with industry in order to prepare individuals who are qualified to fulfill the country's technical needs.