Research studies, writing, and public discourses related to higher education often assume, sometimes assert, but rarely contend with the ontology or higher education organization(s). Whether viewed as colleges and universities; a public, private, or global good; a professional field of work and study; a contentious policy topic; or a social phenomenon shaped by all of the above, these reflect the varying and sometimes divergent understandings of what higher education is, depending on the situation, conversation, or context. In this chapter, we hope to briefly capture and impermanently codify what we have learned from the ebbs and flows, breaks and wakes, crystallization and collapse, of our understandings of higher education organization(s) over time. Our goal is to illustrate ontological assumptions and implicit assertations about the nature of higher education organization(s) and offer propositions for more complicated conceptualizations of, inquiry into, and mobilizing with/in colleges and universities as well as higher education broadly. Based on this chapter and subsequent discussion, we hope that new and seasoned researchers find opportunities to complicate their inquiry; that administrators can engage both theory and practice in ways that lead to effective and lasting change; and that policymakers can consider the design, implementation, and implications of legislation in more nuanced ways.