Under the conditions of the postindustrial society, the system of education is becoming a vital resource of economic development and a means of social adaptation, and it is increasingly obvious that financial problems are of paramount importance in educational policy. Budget appropriations for education, especially higher education (which has become available to the masses), have reached the resource saturation point, and for this reason more discussion is devoted to finding alternative sources of financing. Russia's post-Soviet economy and society are creating problems in knowing how to deal with the educational system, and with higher education in particular. Providing education as either a public good or as a service involve different models of finance and control, and so far Russia has not been able to achieve either model effectively. (Contains 3 notes.)