State-level public programs tend to compete more fiercely for scarce funds in periods of rapidly evaporating state and federal support. This article applies competing-interests theory to a statistical model of the determinants of state appropriations for 4-year public colleges and universities. Ordinary least squares (OLS) and generalized least squares (GLS) (3-way error components) regression models are estimated using 1993-94 and 1994-95 fiscal year data of the 50 states. The empirical regression results indicate that the outstanding (lagged) level of state indebtedness is the strongest determinant of a fiscal year's appropriation share of the state budgets for public higher education, Medicaid spending competes with (but prison budgets complement) state appropriations for public higher education; and Democratic state governors together with majority Democratic legislators, are significantly more sympathetic to public higher education. Public financing implications of these findings are explored in the context of the increasingly challenging fiscal and political climate for public higher education. (Contains 57 footnotes and 1 table.)