A case study of the relationship between governmental funding of public universities and governmental control in one nation, Mexico, is presented. Three factors in the university's autonomy from financial control are discussed: (1) university power to distribute its funds as it sees fit; (2) security against stark income fluctuations; and (3) determination of funding levels by non-coercive criteria. It is concluded that while the Mexican government derives certain power from its near monopoly of Funds, that power is decidedly circumvented. It is shown that the university itself distributes the lump-sum allocation it receives, without need to account to the government. It can almost always count on an income at least as great as last year's and usually can count on fairly steady growth in inflation-adjusted funds. Financial security is further indicated by the stable or growing shares held by higher education, public universities collectively, and public universities individually, in the national or education budgets. The great bulk of the public universities' funds are based on last year's funds and university population, not government assessment of university performance. (SPG)