Le competenze dell'Unione europea in materia di istruzione superiore: un confronto con lo "spending power" degli Stati Uniti d'America

The paper analyses EU powers and competences in the field of higher education through a comparison with the spending power of US federal government. Just as EU institutions, US federal government does not have direct powers in the field of education. US higher education system is characterized by a high level of diversity and pluralism, where public institutions coexist with private for profit and not for profit universities, with different features and inspirations. However, US federal government is able to exercise an important power of standardisation by setting precise conditions for the utilization of federal funding. Over the decades, the spending power has especially strengthened the possibility of access to higher education with the attribution of grants and other benefits. This federalizing process — and the development of national standards for higher education institutions — goes along with a limited reco- gnition of the right to education, which has never been conceived as a fundamental right.