Au-delà de Bologne, la question du « comment » financer l'enseignement supérieur européen persiste

The implementation of the Bologna reform, synonymous with degrees and programs harmonization, is now well advanced in most EU countries. However, beyond Bologna, numerous problems continue to haunt higher education. How to share the cost of higher education is one of them. In most European countries, public financing is dominant and is still perceived by many observers as the most legitimate model despite the fact that access remains largely inequitable, and in spite of the model?s growing inability to provide the financial resources needed to preserve quality and maintain Europe?s position in the world league. In this paper, we review the arguments traditionally set forth by economic theory to justify public funding. We try to assess their relevance given the early 21st century context characterizing French-Speaking Belgium and the EU.