The merger of higher education institutions (HEIs) has created monolithic organizations of inefficiency and ineffectiveness in administrative and academic processes. It was the result of mismatched and outdated processes inherited from merged institutions. The student or customer is deprived of a quality service by the unwieldy processes. The end users of the product from the HEIs are uncertain of the quality of the finished product that would be employable. Employers measure qualified students to certain quality standards. In the past two decades industry realized that to remain competitive, continuous improvement was imperative for success. HEIs are not excluded from competitive pressures. The debate currently raging is whether total quality management (TQM) principles could be applied in HEIs. The methodology of TQM has been utilized in industry over an extended period of time with impressive results. A major obstacle in applying TQM in HEIs is the argument that there are environmental differences between industry and HEIs. The aim of the article is to find common ground between industry and HEIs. The above could be achieved by tailoring the major features and potentialities of basic TQM principles and guidelines to fit HEIs.