TECHNOLOGIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION STATE FINANCING IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Formation of a knowledge-based society is accompanied by transition to mass training of highly qualified specialists. For the successful development of a post-industrial society, it is necessary that at least 40% of the adult population should have higher education. Significantly changing labor requirements are imposed by the economic activity. Lifelong learning is becoming a norm, and the ability to learn continuously, to acquire new knowledge and skills is considered as the most important feature of the workforce. The transition to mass character of higher education, along with the increasing demands for rapid updating knowledge, inevitably necessitates a change in the old methods of financing, which in the new conditions are unable to provide large-scale training at a high level. This poses a problem for the higher education system to create such financing mechanisms that would ensure expanding production of highly qualified personnel with the most efficient use of resources. The object of this study is a set of trends, directions and mechanisms for financing higher education in the developed countries of the world. In preparing this study, analytical and statistical materials were used, focusing on analyzing the experience of advanced countries that have achieved recognized results in the development of higher education. Today, government funding is overall the main source of funding for higher education. In the EU countries state allocations for the maintenance and development of higher education make up about 80% of all necessary expenses.