This overview of the history and current state of higher education in Mexico provides perspectives on the distribution of academic power and authority, both within institutions and in the system as a whole. The power structure may be explained in terms of six tiers of power from the department to the national government. The considerable power of faculty and students lies in their freedom of expression and choice in curricular matters, but there are indications that the balance of academic power could shift to higher levels, with the greatest changes likely at the level of inter-university authority, in coordinating and planning boards. Change could be slow or very turbulant, and the biggest power losers are likely to be faculty and students. A brief bibliography is included. (MSE)