HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING IN EUROPEAN NATIONAL POLICIES

Nowadays the majority of European national policies tend to encourage higher education institutions to increase the private sources of funding. However, direct public funding continues to be a considerable part of the higher education budget. The paper highlights the methods used to fund higher education institutions in European countries of the Eurydice Network. The need for longer-term planning and development of strategies for higher education is widely recognised across Europe. The countries investigated in this paper implement specific policy documents that outline national strategic priorities for ensuring the financial sustainability of the higher education sphere. Some common medium trends in the variety of countries` polic i es are determined: increasing public funding for higher education; granting more autonomy to institutions for managing financial resources; establishing direct links between results and the amount of public funding allocated; encouraging the diversification of funding sources as well as the creation of partnerships with research institutes, businesses, and regional authorities. The methods public authorities use to fund HEIs has been analysed in the paper, as they are likely to significantly influence the institutional strategies. This paper answer such issue as the public funding of HEIs based on their performance; European public authorities grants for specific higher educational projects; accountability for the public funding. The following main characteristics of the public funding of HEIs in Europe have been identified in this paper: funding formulas are used almost everywhere in the allocation of public funds; performance indicators based on students' results are used in funding formulas in the majority of countries; public funding is awarded in accordance with a performance contract in twelve countries; public funds for research are allocated according to various mechanisms.