<p>the_prestige. State schools are partially funded by the state and obviously private schools are not. Michigan received around 320 million dollars from the state last year. How much did Northwestern get from Illinois? Endowments need to be far greater for privates than publics for this reason alone. With the huge drop in endowments in the past few months, I think you chose a poor example of comparing these two schools. Try a larger state school with a relatively small endowment.</p>