The expansion of the market economy has led to several reforms in higher education, changing the way university activities are organized, how services are provided and how institutions are managed. The reforms initiated within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have many common elements, including a revised curriculum, new courses, a credit-based assessment system, student evaluation systems, cost recovery measures and the mix of state- and privately-funded students. Institutional restructuring can be necessary for financial reasons or to improve the quality of education. This paper argues that the restructuring process in the CIS was aimed more at improving the relevance of higher education institutions to compete in an increasingly globalized world. Case studies are provided from universities in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the Russian Federation.