The results of an in-depth study into the university systems of the main countries of the European Union are presented in this paper. The objective is to define theoretical models of the market forms of university education and to apply them in a comparative international study. The analysis shows a general tendency to organise these systems according to "managed competition" mechanisms in which the state plays a role in financing the system and regulating the quality of the study courses offered by the universities (quasi-markets). (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)