As state tax revenues plummet, some lawmakers and higher-education leaders are once again looking at loosening the bonds between state governments and public colleges to save money and give colleges the freedom to bolster their bottom lines in new ways. Over the past two decades, college officials have often lamented the growing need to secure…

Public cuts in financial support have hurt public colleges and students. The author argues that the fault lies in part with the colleges themselves. Many public-university administrators are incapable of convincing political and business leaders of the need for financial support because they are no longer fully convinced themselves. They have…

A variety of trends in state colleges are viewed as privatization, including increased institutional responsibility for meeting costs, financial aid shortfalls that keep many students away, pressure for more institutional autonomy, recruitment of private colleges to provide some state-subsidized programs, payment of private colleges to accept…