Iran's higher education system has experienced an unbalanced quantitative growth of universities and higher education institutions over recent decades under the pressure of social demand, resulting in consequences such as the erosion of quality, a decline in academic social capital, and the spread of credentialism. Quantitative expansion without rigorous needs assessment and feasibility studies, and without proportion between student enrollment, faculty capacity, and investment in quality, has weakened universities' educational and research missions, sidelining knowledge production and social responsibility in favor of mass-produced degrees. This situation, compounded by weak legislation, fragmented decision-making, reduced university autonomy, a lack of clear criteria for performance evaluation, and a weak internationalization strategy, has kept Iran's standing low in global rankings, despite ranking among the leading countries globally in terms of the number of higher education institutions. Furthermore, low per-capita student funding and a lack of foreign investment have negatively impacted quality. Proposed strategies include reducing the multiplicity of policymaking bodies, minimizing bureaucratic control while increasing external supervision, regulating the development of higher education institutions by halting new license issuance over a ten-year horizon (except under special conditions), strengthening research-oriented universities, developing applied private research institutes, standardizing the creation of academic fields and orientations, combating political and ideological rents, moving toward proactive policymaking, and formulating a ranking system for academic departments.