Old age poverty is inevitable in Africa, so is the need for pension provision. The three main public universities (UNZA, CBU and MU) in Zambia are facing financial challenges mainly due to the pension systems adopted by these institutions of higher learning. In order to curtail the high growth rate of the pension debt, the government expressed the need for pension reform in the three universities. The objective of this paper was to draw lessons from pension systems adopted by institutions of higher learning outside Zambia. This was a qualitative study that focused mainly on the number of pillars adopted by the institutions of higher learning of the selected countries. AN analysis of the results indicated that most institutions of higher learning have at least a two-pillar pension system. Further, the results revealed that the UK and USA have associations of universities and colleges that play a vital role in the pension reform process. The research concludes that saving for retirement is a collective responsibility of both employers and recommends for the work on pension reform to be continued in light of experiences of other countries.