In this article, the author focuses on one aspect where the tension that exists in the discourse between neo-liberal tenets and the idea of a Social Europe is played out, namely the area of University/Higher Education (HE) Lifelong Learning (henceforth LLL). This article focuses on those institutions which have potential for furnishing people with further and LLL opportunities outside the mainstream 'lock-step' approach. The author starts by pointing to the most prominent forms of HE taking place today, focusing on their connections to the market and underscoring the neoliberal tenets that, for the most part, underlie HE practice worldwide. The second part of the article deals with alternative approaches to HE, including university education, indicating, borrowing from Carl Boggs, the 'prefigurative' nature of much of this work (i.e. embodying those practices that constitute the ultimate, long-term vision of a future university or HE institution).