Mass higher education, a characteristic recently unique to the United States of America, is now almost universal in scope in developed countries. This article contrasts the relative ease with which American higher education accommodated the rapid expansion of its student base with the difficulties that the United Kingdom, more particularly England, have experienced in following the same route. Are there lessons to be learnt; and, if so, can they be incorporated in the context of a different tradition of higher education, with values built upon different historical foundations? The article also seeks to address whether, in view of the apparent stagnation of higher education in the United States, it continues to offer a model that it is appropriate for others to emulate. (Contains 2 tables and 2 footnotes.)