This paper examines the issues and opportunities related to the higher education systems of two developing countries, Bhutan and Nepal. After an overview of demographics and geography as well as sociopolitical histories of each nation, a closer comparison and discussion of their respective educational curricula and approaches follows. The question is whether Nepal and Bhutan, which cannot hope to compete individually in the global arenas of education or economics, can nonetheless make higher education work for themselves in sustainable and locally appropriate ways. In the end, Bhutan is more successfully managing this challenge by elevating and integrating key aspects of its unique culture into its educational planning and implementation.