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For much of the twentieth century, political support for public funding of higher education was widespread in the United States. Liberals supported public investment because it encouraged social equity; conservatives did so because it promoted economic development. Recently the politics of higher education have become much more contentious. Waste-fighting conservatives advocate deep cuts in public financing; liberals want to expand enrollment and increase diversity. At the same time, public universities have embraced greater degrees of privatization while federal aid for students now emphasizes middle-class affordability over universal access. Public Funding of Higher Education brings together scholars and practitioners to address the complexities of this new climate and the impact of recent trends on policy and on political advocacy at the federal, state, and institutional level. By rethinking traditional rationales for public financing and offering alternatives, this volume will be useful to policymakers, administrators, faculty, students, and researchers struggling with this difficult practical dynamic.