@PurpleTitan "@Much2learn, the gap between publics and privates has been widening for decades now.
At this rate, more publics will become de facto privates like UMich/UVa/PSU (they each get a tiny percentage of their budget from their state; <5%, I believe)."
It seems to me that the strongest of these schools should consider developing a plan to transition to a private entity over time. Then they would no longer be subject to the whims of day-to-day politics, and the state would no longer have to send tax money to them. It could be better for everyone. This would seem to be especially true for the best publics like Cal, Michigan, UVA, Wisconsin, UCLA, Illinois, and North Carolina.