The purpose of this paper is to identify the various components of the educational system in higher education, to illustrate how and where they interact, overlap, and come together so that it may be better understood how Web-based instruction (WBI) may impact higher education. A definition of an educational system is given, and three principles that should be considered when implementing WBI are discussed: (1) A system is a set of organized components working toward a common goal; (2) A change to one component of a system may cause a change in every other component of that system; and (3) Every educational system is different. A model of four essential primary components is presented, three of which are based on the common faculty perspective of the mission of the institution (teaching, research, and service), supplemented by the fourth factor, management. Five levels of Web use in education are then identified: informational, supplemental, essential, communal, and immersive. Focus then moves to use of this model to address higher education system components as they relate to WBI, and each of the four primary components is discussed in terms of how it relates to each of the five levels of WBI. (Contains 17 references.) (AEF)