<p>Pat, remember that, outside of the south, Pennsylvania was about the only eastern seaboard state that put money into a public university system early on. The private Dartmouth and Columbia, for example, got their charters from king of England, succeeded by their respective home states. Today private New York colleges still get substantial monetary aid from the state legislature. New York didn't even begin to conceive of SUNY until the middle of the 20th century, and I suspect SUNY was a political bailout for some regions and their then failing private colleges, which is probably why there is no flagship SUNY campus. Has that hurt SUNY today? It depends. Certainly, SUNY lacks the national rep of Penn State, but some SUNY graduate programs are excellent.</p>
<p>Pat, you forgot Lafayette, F&M and Ursinus.</p>
<p>Re PA:</p>
<p>Drexel isn't public. Also, there are a ton of smaller public universities, former teachers colleges, some of which do a good job of educating kids -- places like Millersville, Kutztown, Indiana U of Pa, West Chester. And Philadelphia has a number of specialty schools -- University of the Arts, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (formerly Philadelphia College of Pharmaceutical Science), and Philadelphia University (formerly Philadelphia Textile College). And then there's LaSalle University, Albright College, and Arcadia University (formerly Beaver College), seminaries of various stripes (St. Charles Borromeo, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Lutheran Theological Seminary), and small Catholic used-to-be-girls colleges like Chestnut Hill College and Rosemont College.</p>
<p>To add to your PA list: Moravian, Lycoming, Susquehanna, St. Joseph's, La Salle, Penn State Satellites, Bloomsburg, and I am sure that there are probably still more.</p>
<p>Not to mention the Curtis Institute of Music.</p>
<p>Very little public money goes into UVA.</p>