<p>It’s dumb to have a sissy fight over this. Michigan and Chicago are both world-class universities built on very different models. Declining state support has hurt Michigan, but state support has been declining there for decades. At this point it constitutes about 7% of the university’s budget, and maybe 15% of its educational budget. That’s still significant, but it’s not going to go to zero anytime soon, and in the meantime Michigan’s finances look an awful lot like those of a private university.</p>
<p>And, sure, Michigan has lots of students doing lots of things, some of them not so intellectual. (Some of them will earn tens of millions as professional athletes, for example, and some of them – gasp! – study business as undergraduates.) OK, I like Chicago’s model better, but that’s a minority position. I know people around here (a long way from Michigan) who positively adore Michigan.</p>