"National CrossTalk" is a publication of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The National Center promotes public policies that enhance opportunities for quality education and training beyond high school. The primary purpose of "National CrossTalk" is to stimulate informed discussion and debate of higher education issues. This issue of "National CrossTalk" includes the following articles: (1) Overcrowded and Underfunded: New York's Public University Systems, and Beleaguered Students, Are an Extreme Example of National Trends (Jon Marcus); (2) Turning Students Away: The Plight of Florida's Community Colleges Suggests the Depth of the State's Financial Crisis (Robert A. Jones); (3) Diminishing State Support: Pennsylvania Reduces State Aid Amid Relentless Tuition Hikes and Record Enrollments (Kay Mills); (4) Behind the Eight Ball: Illinois Resorts to Budgetary Sleight-of-Hand and One-Time Fixes to Maintain Higher Education Funding (Susan C. Thomson); (5) Tuition Policy Debate: Washington's Public Higher Education Costs Continue to Shift from the State to the Student (Kathy Witkowsky); and (6) Calamity in California: State's Battered Budget Leads to Huge Fee Increases and Less Access to Public Universities (Jon Marcus). Regular sections include: (1) Editorial--Core Principles: In This Recession, the Highest Priority Should Be Placed on College Access and Affordability; (2) News from the Center; and (3) Other Voices, includes: (a) A Societal Imperative: Changing the Way We Think about Community Colleges (Pamela Burdman); and (b) Breaking the Affordability Barrier: How Much of the College Access Problem Is Attributable to Lack of Information about Financial Aid? (Bridget Terry Long).