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Concerns about the expansion of education, especially in relation to the evaluation of its socioeconomic benefits and costs, attracted much attention and debate in the second half of the 20th century. This chapter outlines the history of the expansion of higher education (HE). It distinguishes between the different modalities of expansion and considers the expansion of HE as an economic necessity as well as the sociological perspective. The chapter concludes that the expansion of HE in its traditional form appears to be: a socio-political necessity in terms of input, i.e. who gets access; an economic necessity in terms of process, i.e. local job creation, demographic vitality and export; and a qualitative question mark in terms of output. It lays 'bare the fact that what has been at stake in gaining a university experience are the social benefits that such an experience is expected to confer'.