The first part of this paper addresses two broad aspects of the current reforms in Croatian higher education. The reforms are largely driven by the desire to achieve harmony with the European Area of Higher Education. Special attention is paid to presentation of the first experiences with implementation of the Bologna process in Croatia, which brought about a major shift in the teaching-learning paradigm. The second part of this paper focuses on the relationship between institutional accountability and autonomy, describing the new legislative and infrastructural changes and quality assurance mechanisms for assessing the external and internal qualities of programs and institutions. The third part of the paper deals with the issues related to higher education accessibility and affordability. (Contains 1 note.)