Few recent matters have solicited the attention and concern of many in Bangladesh and abroad as intensely as has the current state of its higher education. The successive successes in development and need for speedy recovery from the pandemic hit economy have but added to the urgency of prioritising high quality human resources to face the post-pandemic challenges. The ongoing development and its vision of achieving a middle-income country by 2030 and a developed country by 2041warrants a mission of developing its human resources capable of achieving this goal and identifying and addressing the challenges of sustainable development momentum now and beyond 2041. The education policy of Bangladesh needs to recognise higher education as a driver of economic and social development and creator of responsible citizens to address ever growing social inequality. Given the widely criticised performance record of universities in the regional and global rankings, a meaningful overhauling of the higher education sector is needed now more than ever before.