UW quality also has economic impacts on the state. Millions of federal research dollars flow into Washington's economy by way of UW grants and expenditures. The state of Washington now leads the nation in the percentage of its workforce employed in technology-related industries. Roughly a third of all jobs in the state depend directly or indirectly on the high-tech sector. Of course not.
Any public university is a public asset.
But the value of that asset grows exponentially with its quality.