Drawing on 45 semi-structured interviews conducted in four public universities as part of an international comparative project, we examine the cultural, political, social and economic forces at play in the way the 'public good' is perceived, translated and debated within the French higher education context. Our findings indicate that a variety of views of the public good value/contribution of higher education co-exist, which, in a context of reform, reflect various understandings of how the principles and practices driving the French 'republican' model work or should work.