The forms of students' political participation in the administration of higher education in Spain have evolved throughout history. Spain has developed from a period characterised by the corporatist model of Sindicato Espanõl Universitario--as a single syndicate of students controlled by the Franco Regime--towards the emergence of a student movement which channelled rejection and political opposition by means of clandestine associations and assemblies. The arrival of democracy and the constitutional recognition of the right of the autonomous university brought with it the institutionalization of student representation in the administrative bodies. The article discusses the development of student representation and participation in universities and in state-student relationship. It categorizes and qualifies representative associations at different levels of HE governance. Finally, it proposes that the pluralist model of state-student interactions that has proliferated in the democratic Spain may be evolving towards a more neocorporatist model.