What would be the process for going about privatizing a state university (such as the New College of Florida)? [closed]

Question

Could the state government just dissolve it through a bill stating as such?

Answer 1

Question:

What would be the process for going about privatizing a state university (such as the New college of Florida)?

Depends on what "privatizing" looks like. There is no such thing as pure public or private school. All "Private" schools receive public funds through various federal and state programs. All "Public" schools receive private funds from alumni, and various private grants and donations.

So if all you want to do is tilt the status of the University from a state controlled…and supported entity to a state affiliated or state associated institution with greater control over admissions and curriculum, that can be done in some instances by the University itself. I know at the University of Virginia, the law school and Darden School of Business consider themselves essentially independent of state control for the last 20 years. UVA was able to make these changes internally with minimal legislature action.

Is the University of Virginia Going Private?

I think claiming privatization is frankly a losing proposition. Legislators and many taxpayers my not want to fund higher education, but they don't want to allow someone else to walk off with these institutions either. So the blending of private and public, with the stated goal of retaining the public civic mission of the institution seems like the most successful way to gain supporters. As I've said flipping colleges inside the University is simpler and can historically be done internally. Flipping the entire University is probable more complex. It would require legislature action or worst case a public referendum.

I think the bottom line the two sides to my mind don't seem that far apart. Legislatures and the public largely want the Universities to be more innovative and efficient in order to justify their budgets. Universities considering privatization are willing to forgo substantial state funds in order to gain greater freedom from state control. I know the devil is in the details but broadly speaking the gap is not insurmountable.

Florida is different than Virginia. I know in Florida the current governor is attempting to transform the New College, a liberal institution with quite a record of achievement into a conservative institution. The state officials think they can make this transformation offending the faculty, student body, and administrators; while retaining the record of accomplishment. Which seems absurd. But it does probable mean without political re-ordering method, those aggressively trying to transform the University likely aren't going to be sufficiently motivated by budgetary reforms. It's going to take legislative action informed by a referendum. Best to try to nick away at the state's authority leveraging the academic accomplishment of the University when left to their own devices.

Question #2

Could the state government just dissolve it through a bill stating as such?

Depends. Some universities like the Land Grant Universities which the Federal Government helped to create by donating large swaths of land in every state might be more difficult to transform. But it has been done. There are some land-grant colleges that are private schools, including Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tuskegee University. Mostly the federal government leaves management of these Universities to the states. But it might be possible given the federal investment in some of these schools for such an effort gain federal attention.