Against the backdrop of the historical development of education and the traditional perception of a university as a space for free and non-partisan research which is in direct opposition to the state's and political institutions' efforts to exert influence, the author analyses the autonomy of higher education at public and private universities. The idea of the autonomy of universities, embodied in the assertions about their independence as the essence and purpose of university education, is confronted with the current legal regulation governing higher education and the expansion of administrative justice.