Public research universities have primarily three missions – educate the citizenry, be of service to the society and, do research that benefits all of mankind. This has remained the three pillars for more than 150 years since, President Lincoln established the public university system in the United States through the Morrill Act.  However, over the past decade of the 21^st century, we have seen a retrenchment from higher education by most State governments and loss of accessibility for needy students because of higher tuition and fees.  We have also seen nonetheless increasing enrollment and greater reliance on universities for assistance in solving many societal issues via research.  The universities have realized that they have to change their business models that will diversify their revenue streams to move away from heavy reliance on state funds.  Public-private partnerships (PPP) are being increasingly used as the mechanism of alternative funding.

So, how does PPP provide resources to help universities?

1. Focus on an innovation ecosystem – For several reasons, mostly economic, private industries have also divested from basic and applied research, focusing primarily on product development and, therefore relying on university research for innovative ideas.  This has created a conundrum; universities have become the innovation part of the industry ecosystem as well as the source of manpower requirements for industry. Thus, PPP could be useful in fostering Research Parks at universities to enhance the innovation ecosystem in many different ways.
2. Focus on Philanthropic activities – Public research universities, by their very nature, are nonprofit organizations but they are being asked to help the business sector which is mainly profit-oriented. Yet, the PPP can be mutually beneficial as the economic interests intersect talent development which public universities are uniquely qualified to do. In this respect industry can take on a philanthropic role in helping universities develop that talent pipeline.
3. Catalyzing federal investments – Just as it is well known, federal investments in basic and applied research at universities have been declining over the last three decades.  Industry participation can help in reversing this trend when they pool the resources with federal investments. For example, advanced manufacturing, healthcare delivery, solving environmental and social problems can be substantially enhanced if industry joins federal and state investments in these efforts.
4. Research, Facilities and Infrastructure development –  Public universities lack the ability to invest in developing modern equipment since States have pulled back on such infrastructure funds.  Industries can help to develop those by leveraging existing State investments and simultaneously benefit from such efforts.  Research efforts at universities can substantially benefit private industry research if the right conditions exist; this would require working on special agreements especially on intellectual property and data sharing.
5. Privatizing university maintenance activities – Substantial savings in university activities can be realized in areas such as dining, landscaping, building maintenance, enrollment management, online education, assessment, and testing, housing, media, and marketing if these are done through PPPs. The savings can then be redirected to research and teaching within the universities to foster growth and innovation.

PPPs are very useful in allowing universities to consider changing the operations via offsetting the current fiscal pressures while, at the same time delivering expanded services, building new facilities, realizing cost reductions, enhancing teaching efforts, and improving the research innovation ecosystem.