State policies have an impact on the number of public colleges and their mission.
For example, the differences between the mission of the state colleges in New York, which are part of the SUNY system, and the University of California and California State University System have resulted in a very different higher education landscape in these two states. Some states, such as Kansas and Nebraska have long traditions of not permitting their public institutions to become too selective. Their missions are to serve the citizens of their states. Other states have permitted a more tiered system of colleges and universities to develop so that the University of Michigan, for example, ranks among the leading elite institutions of the United States. Traditions of state support for public sector institutions also influence the context of campus-based enrollment management activities in each state.