Declining state support for higher education is not unique to Southern New England nor is it a recent phenomenon. Public universities in the United States relied on state and local funding for about half of their revenue in 1980-1981. By 1999-2000 that proportion had dropped to about one-third. With the recession decimating state coffers, the general decline has hit a cliff in many states. State budgets for 2009-2010 show that only 12 states increased appropriations to public higher education since 2007-2008. State support is declining even more rapidly at public higher education institutions in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. When adjusted for cost-of-living and enrollment mix, only New Jersey and Michigan cut state funding per full-time equivalent student by a larger percentage than Rhode Island (19.1 percent) and Massachusetts (14 percent) from 2003 to 2008 (State Higher Education Finance Report, 2009). Because declining state support is such a widespread, longstanding, and seemingly intractable issue, this chapter examines the recent history and results of low public support for higher education and what future cuts could mean for Rhode Island and Massachusetts.