American public higher education is in trouble. Besieged by declining state and Federal support for more than 30 years, public colleges and universities are facing a "game-changing" set of challenges that threaten to alter the very nature of the institutions. As two recessions withered state budgets in the first decade of the 21st century, the public funding vise closed to a precipitous level, leading some states and their universities to consider the benefits of divesting the institutions of their state affiliation. With fewer colleges and universities to support, the states would be able to remove, at least partially, one strain on their budgets. The institutions, thus disconnected from the states, would have greater freedom from oversight and constraints on fundraising. Not everyone will win with such a significant change in the "game's rules," however. When public colleges and universities become essentially private, the impact on disenfranchised citizens, private higher education, and even the nation's economy could be devastating. This article describes selected case examples of states and public institutions that have already set in motion a slide down a slippery slope.