Many people believed that virtual worlds would end up like the eight-track audiotape: a memory of something no longer used (or useful). Yet today there are hundreds of higher education institutions represented in three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds such as Active Worlds and Second Life. The movement toward the virtual realm as a viable teaching and learning environment currently seems unstoppable. The idea of operating within virtual worlds is not without its drawbacks, especially for higher education. The challenges fall into four major categories: (1) perceptual; (2) technical; (3) operational; and (4) pedagogical. Whether it is Second Life or another virtual world, this foundational movement is improving and moving forward. A question to be addressed in the coming months and years is how higher education and, subsequently, individual institutions will determine the best way to continue to move forward with virtual worlds. (Contains 14 notes.)