Given the low outcomes and high levels of poverty in the country, in addition to its geopolitical/geo-strategic importance, Pakistan has been a country of interest for the donor community. Although Pakistan is not as aid dependent as many of its developing country counterparts, development funding from donors has been an historically important source of public finance for social sectors. This paper presents a broad picture of the state of education financing in Pakistan by tracing the trends in two sources of public financing – state and donor funding – and analyses what these trends a) reveal about relationship between the country and donors; b) imply as regards the trajectory of trends in observed educational outcomes. The discussion is focused on two decades – 1990s and post 2000 – which mark two phases of donor involvement in Pakistan. We find that while linking sources of public finance to educational outcomes is a non-trivial task, improvements in some key output indicators suggests progress made through increasing resource allocations to the education sector. However, the donors have had more limited success in influencing budgetary priorities.