The idea of 'quality of graduates' as understood in the Higher Education (HE) sector is central to this conceptual piece. HE systems across the world have seen unprecedented levels of transformation as part of their effort to adapt to the conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that most institutions have gone back to contact format in instruction, questions are being posed as to how the vulnerabilities of HE systems that the pandemic helped expose will be addressed. Unfair practices, social injustices and perpetuation of inequalities have been pointed out within the sector. In this context, this article puts forward the idea of 'social justice higher education' that should foreground conceptualisations of social justice within the higher education sector. The authors rely on the notion of 'quality of graduates' as a measurable construct across institutions to elucidate 'social justice higher education'. Southern Theory as a theoretical stand point is also used to consolidate this discussion. Southern Theory provides a convenient lens to view educational disparities that students experience across national boundaries in the context of the pandemic. 'Quality of graduates' and 'social justice higher education' thus form a solid conceptual alliance with which southern theory gets linked as a connecting thread. Conclusions of the piece point towards the need to reinvigorate the ideological affirmations in support of defining 'quality of graduates' along the lines of a socially just higher education system.