During the past decade, the World Bank's higher education guidelines were geared towards competition and the market place, while Unesco reaffirmed the statute of its public service and advocated the importance of State financing, with the purpose of developing a higher education that is equally accessible to all and based on merit. This article is a comparison of international higher education. It presents considerations on the following topics: main global tendencies for higher education; world models of financing; global vision of university financing; financing, higher education policies, international cooperation and internationalization; higher education financing in Europe. In short, it concludes that diversifying the sources of financing is both positive and necessary, though this must not imply a reduction or abdication of the State in the financing of higher education.
Higher Education; Financing; Internationalization
