Public higher education has come under increasing scrutiny in the past year from politicians, conservative think tanks and the public in general. Facing the paradox of being expected to produce an ever-more educated workforce for the 21st century with plummeting government support, public universities are struggling to adapt with the times. As UW-Madison celebrates the Year of the Wisconsin Idea, the Educational Policy Studies Department invites the public to its 9th annual conference, “The Public Interest and the Future of Public Higher Education in the 21st-Century.”