A broad consensus regarding the need for universities to cultivate academic success has emerged because many students do not achieve their goals or optimally benefit from their higher education (HE) experiences (Altbach, 2014; Davidson & Wilson, 2014; Ferrão & Almeida, 2019; Meggiolaro, Giraldo, & Clerici, 2017; Tinto & Pusser, 2006). This consensus--alongside the expansion of HE in recent decades--is perhaps the main reason behind the growth of HE research (Tight, 2018; Vincent-Lancrin, 2009). Due to the trends expected in HE in the coming years (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2008), such growth is expected to continue with increased diversity and complexity (Altbach, 2014), along with stronger institutional and professional competitiveness. The primary reason for this study was to identify the statistical methods that were used in HE research between 1998 and 2017. In focusing on these methods, the author considered recent trends in the statistical methods used in HE research (Daniel, 2015; Hutchinson & Lovell, 2004; Tight, 2013), their relevance to the development of the field, the need for dialectics between theory and methods, the use of research methods, and the scarcity of research on methodological characteristics of the published literature (Hutchinson & Lovell, 2002).