<p>Green technology innovation is regarded as an effective means to reconcile economic progress with environmental governance. Higher education is essential for cultivating high-quality, innovative talent necessary for green technology innovation and is pivotal in advancing scientific and technological progress and innovation activities. This study utilizes panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2003 to 2020 to examine the mechanisms and pathways via which higher education influences green technology innovation, employing both linear and nonlinear methodologies. The research indicates that higher education is crucial in fostering green technology innovation, exhibiting a dual threshold effect impacted by regional economic development and environmental restrictions. Subsequent analysis of the impact routes indicates that the advancement of the digital economy significantly amplifies the role of higher education in fostering green technology innovation. Thus, besides providing compelling evidence favoring the endogenous growth hypothesis, this study delves deeply into the internal working logic and the road toward higher education’s adoption of green technology innovation. It rationalizes the relationship between “quantity” and “quality” of higher education, helps optimize its positioning and resource allocation, and validates that green technology innovation can be significantly enhanced by expanding higher education. However, it also suggests disparities in the quality of higher education. In the meantime, boosting funding for developing digital economy disciplines is also essential to advancing China’s economic transition to a green economy and moving into the high-quality development stage.</p>