This report discusses the findings of a survey of the financial status of state and land-grant colleges and universities conducted by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. Seventy-eight of the 99 member institutions responded. The report: (1) lists the institutions with budget deficits; (2) discusses some of the stopgap and economic measures taken; (3) identifies some unmet needs caused by the financial crisis; and (4) deals with specific financial issues involved, such as: the standstill budgets, minimum increases in state appropriations, the increases in student fees and the rising student's share of instructional costs at a time when one of the great endeavors in American higher education is to open up new opportunities for the disadvantaged, and the decline in private gifts. The report concludes that if the public institutions, which now enroll about 70 percent of all college students, are to continue to provide an opportunity for higher education to the majority of young people, the federal government must become a part of this effort. (AF)