In a period of student loan scandals and U.S. financial market instability impacting on the cost and availability of student loans, this paper looks at alternative models of higher education funding. In this context, it also considers the level of financial support that the government should provide to higher education.

The educational and living costs of undergraduate studies and the ways these costs are shared among parents, students, taxpayers, and philanthropists/donors are considered for five countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, and Sweden. Five policy issues that are linked to how costs are shared by…