This paper investigates the privatization of higher education in MENA. Higher education is an important topic in the contemporary MENA region –many have expressed concern over the inability of higher education institutions to prepare graduates for professional work. Unfortunately, reforms to MENA higher education are often suggested in line with global models of privatization, with little understanding of why privatization does or does not achieve its intended goals. Since the 1980s, most Middle Eastern countries have created or expanded their private higher education (PHE) sectors, often in response to pressure from international donors. This turn to PHE is relatively new in countries such as Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco, where publicly funded higher education was a core commitment of nation-building in the post-independence era. Despite common rationales of decreasing government funding while expanding access to higher education, the implementation of PHE has taken very different paths in each country. In Jordan, private higher education now serves a full fourth of all Jordanian students, while private universities remain small and marginalized in Tunisia, accounting for less than 2% of all students. In Morocco, private higher education emerged through a non-profit elite university, Al-Akhawayn, based on the American liberal arts model. Although serving but a small percentage of students, private higher education in Morocco today retains an elite character, shaped by the history and status of Al-Akhawayn. This paper asks why PHE has taken such different paths in each country, and examines the factors that have shaped the policies and politics of PHE in these three MENA-region nations. It draws on nine months of fieldwork in Jordan, Tunisia, and Morocco, including roughly 40 interviews with policymakers, academics and development professionals, and analysis of newspapers and policy documents. Findings suggest that privatization policies are not determined by historical accidents or internal political negotiations alone. Rather, specific socio-political, cultural, and geographic factors affect the implementation of PHE policies in the region, including: economic links to international governmental organizations (i.e., the World Bank and International Monetary Fund), tuition rates at public universities, expatriate demand for access to national higher education, colonial legacies and their resulting opportunities for higher education abroad, regional (cultural and religious) politics, and geographic location. Given the various factors affecting implementation, the paper argues that PHE alone cannot be a policy proscription for improving higher education in the region, and concludes with policy suggestions for creating dynamic higher education sectors in Arab nations.