Bartlett, hired when Democratic appointees controlled the board, repeatedly clashed with Gov. Pataki-appointed trustees. It didn't help that the state was freezing the amount of money it was putting into the university. In recent years SUNY has endured unpopular tuition hikes and wrangling among board members. But the turmoil may be subsiding. New York state has increased spending on prisons in the last decade by nearly as much as it has cut spending on higher education, according to a study conducted by the Justice Policy Institute and the Correctional Association of New York.
Trends are similar nation-wide.