[IlluminatusUIUC]

Quote: Originally Posted by JLoco11

Public universities have their operating costs funded 100% by their state... that's anything related to the school staying open such as salaries, building maintenance, utilities etc. Donations schools receive are in addition to the 100% funding. So T. Boone Pickens giving $10 million to Oklahoma State, doesn't mean Oklahoma can give OK state 10 million less in funding. They get 100% funding PLUS keep all donations.

This is flat out false. Most "public" university systems are only partially being supported by state funds, with the remainder coming from the students and other revenue sources:

http://www.acenet.edu/the-presidency...he-bottom.aspx

Quote:

State appropriations for public higher education have just faced another tough year. And yet, public institutions have faced many such years over the past three decades. Despite steadily growing student demand for higher education since the mid-1970s, state fiscal investment in higher education has been in retreat in the states since about 1980.

University of California system:
http://budget.universityofcalifornia.edu/?page_id=5

Quote:

But only a portion of that total is tied to the university’s basic instructional program and the activities that support it. That “core funds” budget, which is currently about 26 percent of the university’s total budget, comes from three sources: state funds (50 percent), student fees (38 percent), and UC general funds (12 percent).

University of Virginia
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...9d0_story.html

Quote:

For all university divisions, state appropriations accounted for $154.4 million of a $2.6 billion budget, or 5.8 percent. For the academic division, state appropriations were $139.5 million of a $1.36 billion budget, or 10.2 percent.

University of Texas
http://giving.utexas.edu/why-give/wh...-your-support/

Quote:

For example, in 1984-85 the state of Texas contributed 47 percent of the university’s budget. Today that share is only 13 percent.

Now, the UT example is a little misleading, because the States share of the budget shrank, but the schools budget exploded in those 30 years. Not to belabor the point any further, but the idea that state schools are 100% state funded is just wrong.