The Tempus Programme, which funds cooperation in higher education between universities in EU Member States and a defined set of partner countries outside the European Union, is excellently positioned to support explorations into higher education governance in countries that want to draw on the developing EU experience in this field. Governance is a relatively new issue in the Tempus priorities and has gained in importance under Tempus IV, which means that there are a number of projects on governance which have only started recently. This study looks at finished projects and tries to identify areas that deserve future attention and support. It seeks to reflect on understandings of governance and to emphasise the importance of the regional, national, economic, political and social context. It discusses how governance is shaped by the way in which autonomy is interpreted, by the funding regime, management and external quality assurance. The study should encourage those involved in higher education in the Tempus partner countries to use the Tempus programme to help develop appropriate governance structures that support the diversity needed to enable their universities to realise their full potential. A shortlist of 31 recent Tempus projects associated with the topic of governance was drawn up. A detailed study of the project documentation revealed that the majority of the projects engaged more with management than governance although, as the literature indicates, the two are closely related and impact on one another. It also showed that, while governance is a priority under Tempus IV, it did not feature to the same extent under previous phases of the Tempus programme. Appendix includes: List of used abbreviations. (Contains 14 footnotes.) [Funding for this paper was provided by the EuropeAid Cooperation Office and the Directorate General for Enlargement.]