There has been much interest in happiness over the last decade fueled by developments in neuroscience and the measurement of happiness. Positive psychology has emerged as a recognised discipline within academia to provide a home for the findings of the new scientific study of happiness. In 2011, positive psychology was the most popular course at Harvard University and in that same year Harvard was ranked as the top university in the world by the United Kingdom's Times Higher Education Supplement. There may be no causal connection between these two phenomena but it is clear that taking seriously the scientific research on happiness is not an impediment to institutional success. What is the importance of the new scientific research on happiness and what, if any, is its relevance to Higher Education? This is the question that this paper will explore and attempt to answer.