Your comment inspired me to dig up some comparative numbers (warning some data may be a few years old).  The University of Texas System has a $16.9 billion operating budget. Texas has a population of $25.1 million and 213,000 students in the system.  This works out to $673 per resident and a whopping $79,000 per student.  The UA system has an operating budget of $335 million. Alaska has a population of 737,000 and 34,000 students. This works out to $454 per resident and a miniscule $9,900 per student. Meanwhile the UA endowment is around $200 million ($271 per resident), while the UT endowment is $24.1 billion ($960 per resident).  The resident cost of attendance at UT is $26k/yr while the cost at UAA is $21k.  Given these numbers, I would conclude that UA has been extremely efficient with its comparatively small budget.  Moreover, I'd say the State of Alaska has been short-sighted in its relative lack of investment in the UA system.