<p>Will the quality of education go down as a result of it? This is assuming quality of education is related to the endowment fund.</p>
<p>It depends on the endowment fund.</p>
<p>Google "state budget cuts" in the news and it returns a lot of articles. </p>
<p>Colleges and universities: At least 16 states have implemented or proposed cuts to public colleges and universities. For example, Alabama, Kentucky, and Virginia have all cut university budgets and/or community-college funding, resulting in tuition increases of 5 percent to 14 percent.</p>
<p>(August 5, 2008 29</a> States Faced Total Budget Shortfall of at Least $48 Billion in 2009 ). We're two months out and I think that budget numbers continue to deteriorate.</p>
<p>Yes, and it's a two-way squeeze. Not only are the states running short on money, but if they try to make up the difference by increasing tuition too much, they may possibly lose many of the consumers who make up their student enrollment, whose families are having economic and credit problems of their own.</p>
<p>I'd say the one thing that the state universities do have in their favor is that because they are generally cheaper than private schools, they may have many more students (because of worsing family budgets) moving from expensive private schools to the in-state public universities instead. Perhaps this will make up for the currently enrolled students they lose due to tuition increases.</p>
<p>What about private schools with high endowments already (like Harvard)?</p>
<p>They will be hit, will it affect quality? I don't think in the short run at the well financed schools, but if it were to continue it would probably hurt. Here is a new thread quoting TIME Mag that was just posted.</p>
<p>I certainly am having second thoughts about USC at 50K a year since the bank accounts are shrinking.</p>