He said that while he predicts few top-notch public research universities will exist in the future, he thinks UNC-CH will flourish in the next several decades.
"I think it's an opportunity for us and those that are well positioned to prosper," he said.
"I think Carolina is very well-positioned to be one of those."
The National Science Foundation recently reported that UNC-CH ranks 20th in the nation among peer public and private institutions in federal academic science and engineering support, replacing Duke University in the top 20 for the 2000 survey.
Moeser said the findings reflect the national competitiveness of UNC-CH research.
"We're being grouped against universities that have engineering colleges," he said.
More public research schools are turning to funding through endowments -- long a financial crutch of private institutions -- to remain competitive.
Private universities usually generate larger endowments, but UNC-CH's $1 billion endowment ranks close to some peer private institutions.
Although Duke University's endowment is $3.1 billion, according to statistics from June 2001, Wake Forest University's endowment -- at more than $800 million -- is close to the size of UNC-CH's.
N.C. State University's endowment is more than $300 million.
Moeser said he hopes the University's $1 billion endowment will be doubled or tripled, enabling the school to better compete with peer private institutions.
"If we seize the opportunity to think outside (traditional sources of revenue) ... then we have a tremendous advantage," he said.
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Moeser said that by exploring partnerships with private institutions like Duke University, UNC-CH will be able to remain competitive.
"They're a competitor, but they're also a collaborator," he said.
John Burness, senior vice president of public affairs and government relations at Duke University, said the main competition between many public and private universities is for medical research dollars.
Burness said that while private schools do not have to rely on the N.C. General Assembly for funding, they must find other means to raise revenue.
"In effect we have to raise that money," he said.
He said public universities, learning from private institutions' fund-raising successes, are leaning more and more on private sources of revenue.
"The public institutions are getting much more sophisticated about raising private money," he said.
Stuart Cooper, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at N.C. State, said private funding will be a powerful asset in coming years.
"It will certainly help (to have endowments)," Cooper said. "It can be a very important enhancement."
He said it can take many years to see the results of increasing the size of endowments because interest takes time to accrue on the investments.
Cooper said public universities have proven themselves able to attract research dollars, adding that it is often less costly to fund research at public institutions than at their private competitors.
"It is often less expensive to support a graduate student at a public research university than at a private research university," he said.
Cheryl Fields, director of public affairs for the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, said the future of public research universities is still dependent on the depth of state coffers.
"Public institutions' fortunes are so tied to the states' economies," Fields said. "It does create worrisome questions about if they can keep tuition down as in the past," she said.
Fields said recent economic turmoil has illustrated the uphill battle public institutions are facing.
"Universities' costs, like everything else, are going up ... but state support is declining," she said.
But in spite of the financial crunch facing the nation, Fields said state legislatures will continue to recognize the importance of higher education for the workforce.
U.S. Census figures project a slight decrease in 18- to 24-year-olds in the next 25 years, while the elderly base is predicted to grow.
But Fields said it is unlikely that the demographic change will subsequently shift the lawmakers' budget priorities and cause a decrease in funds allocated to students. "One would hope that wouldn't happen," she said.
But Yudof said an aging population has other priorities, like health care, that might cause less of an emphasis to be placed on funding higher education.
Senior groups also tend to vote at a higher rate, thereby electing representatives that are more in tune with their concerns, he said.
But he said that in discussing the problems facing the nation's top public research universities, it is important to note that these institutions are still the envy of the world.
"We're as good at higher education, or better, than anywhere in the world," Yudof said. "It's very strange to me that we would jeopardize what we do so well."
The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.
