This paper offers an overview on funding of higher and further education across the globe. Drawing on the best available comparative data, it shows how education is funded in different ways. It discusses, for example, how much different countries spend on higher education, how spending has changed over time, how high tuition fees and financial student aid are, and to what extent performance-criteria are applied to allocate funding. Moreover, the paper summarises state-of-the-art knowledge on the causes and consequences of these differences, pointing at the political dynamics behind education funding and the far-reaching consequences.