Blended learning (BL) — the deliberate integration of face-to-face instruction with online learning activities — has become one of the most widely adopted instructional approaches in higher education. This review synthesizes recent (2023–2026) meta-analytic, systematic-review, and empirical literature to evaluate the effectiveness of blended learning, the major pedagogical models through which it is enacted, and the barriers that constrain its implementation. Drawing on large-scale meta-analyses covering more than one hundred primary studies and tens of thousands of learners, the review finds consistent evidence that blended learning produces small-to-moderate positive effects on academic performance, attitudes, and engagement relative to fully face-to-face instruction, with effects moderated by discipline, the proportion of online content, and the quality of online interaction. Models reviewed include rotation- and flex-based blended designs, the flipped classroom, the Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) modality, and emerging artificial-intelligence-enhanced blended environments, the last of which shows a medium additional effect on achievement beyond conventional blended designs. Despite this generally favorable evidence base, implementation remains uneven: faculty digital-skills gaps, inconsistent institutional policy, unequal technological infrastructure across global regions, and learners' variable capacity for self-regulation are recurring barriers identified across the literature. The review concludes that blended learning's effectiveness is conditional rather than automatic, depending heavily on instructional design quality, institutional readiness, and equitable access, and it offers implications for practice, policy, and future research.