《高等教育研究》發表研究有關高等教育問題的研究報告。該雜志對使用廣泛方法的研究開放，但對將先進的定量研究方法應用于高等教育問題或解決高等教育政策問題的研究特別感興趣。該雜志感興趣的主題包括：獲取和保留；學生成功；公平；教師問題；機構生產力和評估；高等教育管理；課程和教學；州和聯邦高等教育政策；以及高等教育的融資。《華爾街日報》鼓勵高等教育以外學科的學者提交論文，以及美國以外解決讀者感興趣問題的研究。《華爾街日報》有時會發表方法論性質的簡短評論、有關高等研究主題的文獻綜述以及“研究與實踐”研究，說明高等研究如何為決策提供信息。

Research in Higher Education publishes studies that examine issues pertaining to postsecondary education. The journal is open to studies using a wide range of methods, but has particular interest in studies that apply advanced quantitative research methods to issues in postsecondary education or address postsecondary education policy issues. Among the topics of interest to the journal are: access and retention; student success; equity; faculty issues; institutional productivity and assessment; postsecondary education governance; curriculum and instruction; state and federal higher education policy; and financing of postsecondary education. The journal encourages submissions from scholars in disciplines outside of higher education, and studies from outside the United States that address issues that are of interest to the readership. The journal will on occasion publish short notes of a methodological nature, literature reviews of topics pertaining to postsecondary research, and “research and practice” studies illustrating how postsecondary research can inform decision making.