CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With cuts of more than 20 percent per full-time equivalent (FTE) student, state support for public higher education is below its 2008 level in 46 states. Public research universities, in particular, have been hit still harder. Between 2008 and 2013, state-appropriation support declined by more than 26 percent in the median public research university.