14% of the funding of education institutions in the EU in 2008 comes from private sources

In 2008, public education expenditure represented approximately 5% of GDP. That year, at the start of the economic crisis, public education expenditure grew 2.8% in real terms, 2.4 percentage points above GDP growth. Private entities expenditure in education institutions was 0.75% of GDP, but there were significant differences in the EU, ranging from 0.15% in Finland to 1.72% in the United Kingdom. The importance of public financial aid to students also varied considerably among countries in 2008, from 1.2% to 16% of public education expenditure.