Strapped colleges weigh autonomy

The Denver Post reports:

It's a far-fetched notion: A state treasure such as the University of Colorado - born in 1877 with the ringing of Old Main's bell, the fanfare of a brass band and the governor in a horse- drawn carriage - becoming a private school.

But national experts and university leaders say public universities are looking more like private ones every year as state funding shrinks and tuition makes up the difference. A political tug of war over funding is intensifying, igniting debate about whether going to college is a private commodity or a public good.

When state funding becomes such a small percentage of their budgets why not go private?