[winflop]

The problem with state schools have with creating donor cultures is they mostly started out as free for students.  There really was no need to cultivate a donor culture with adequate public funding.  At a place like Berkeley, it was made worse because with no need to cultivate a donor culture, the school evolved a "sink or swim" culture for the students. 

This is why so many Ca.l grads have it in for Stanford.  They feel they got no help from the university and were basically told to go it alone.  At private schools like Stanford, you can't have that mentality.  When students are paying so much they are given more support.  When they go on to have success in life post-graduation, they feel a little more comfortable making donations back to the school they feel gave them support.

As Ca.l develops a more private-like donor culture and offers more support to students as a result, I'm imagining the degree of hate Ca.l grads feel toward Stanford will ebb considerably.

The other problem is the public perception that since they are state schools they are funded by the state government, and therefore alums who live in state are already "donating" to the school through state taxes.  In reality only a small portion of the budget comes from the state government, but the other reality is that if they ever were at risk of bankruptcy Sacramento would bail them out which removes any moral hazard and leads to situations like what you see at Low APR U.

[winflop]

The problem with state schools have with creating donor cultures is they mostly started out as free for students.  There really was no need to cultivate a donor culture with adequate public funding.  At a place like Berkeley, it was made worse because with no need to cultivate a donor culture, the school evolved a "sink or swim" culture for the students. 

This is why so many Ca.l grads have it in for Stanford.  They feel they got no help from the university and were basically told to go it alone.  At private schools like Stanford, you can't have that mentality.  When students are paying so much they are given more support.  When they go on to have success in life post-graduation, they feel a little more comfortable making donations back to the school they feel gave them support.

As Ca.l develops a more private-like donor culture and offers more support to students as a result, I'm imagining the degree of hate Ca.l grads feel toward Stanford will ebb considerably.

The other problem is the public perception that since they are state schools they are funded by the state government, and therefore alums who live in state are already "donating" to the school through state taxes.  In reality only a small portion of the budget comes from the state government, but the other reality is that if they ever were at risk of bankruptcy Sacramento would bail them out which removes any moral hazard and leads to situations like what you see at Low APR U.