While I wouldn't try to argue that there is no distinction between public and private, a huge amount of government money does flow into both. Private really ju

While I wouldn't try to argue that there is no distinction between public and private, a huge amount of government money does flow into both. Private really just mean that it is not operated by the government, and probably means that it doesn't receive direct operational funding from the government. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/27/universities-government-money_n_3165186.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/27/universities-govern... Private universities do receive a huge amount of government funding, particularly where it comes to research grants. They are also tax exempt where it comes to endowment growth. These two elements do amount to considerable government support for research universities. Some very high profile public research universities (such as UC Berkeley and UCSF) actually receive a small enough percentage of their budget from the state that they are tempted, now and then, to withdraw and privatize. This temptation is particularly strong at UCSF, which doesn't have undergraduates to support and might very well come out ahead if it gave up state support, already a minimal part of the budget, in exchange for the right to behave like a private institution.