This paper uses a multicountry perspective spanning four countries--the United States, Mongolia, South Africa, and Ukraine--to highlight a number of strategies and challenges related to the creation and implementation of suitable higher education finance polices. It draws attention to the financial imperatives that affect higher education in the four countries and provides an overview of current policies, contextual influences, identified weaknesses, and proposed recommendations. Despite the fact that each country has a unique postsecondary context, all four countries grapple with strategies to ensure access to higher education for disadvantaged students and, more important, to ensure a high-quality education for all students. The analysis suggests a number of findings. The first step in policy planning is to conduct a thorough needs analysis--an understanding of the operational environment and the social context is important to direct funding to the areas of greatest need. Then, policies should be created that can be expected to have a significant impact and that will not exceed the resources available to the government. Policymakers must garner significant political support from various constituents. A critical dialogue among policymakers, civil society, and political administrators is essential to create a sustainable framework within which policy can emerge. Whatever policy is decided upon, the financial and political resources must be available to ensure effective implementation. (Contains 3 figures and 16 footnotes.)