AbstractAnalysis of successful and unsuccessful state‐university programs shows clearly what does and does not work and teaches us that leadership far outweighs money.While the literature on implementing state‐university collaborations around educational, service, and research activities is sparse, the experience is vast. Given the shrinking health care dollar and the increasing mutual needs of both academic departments and public institutions, such collaborations will prove increasingly important to both parties, and attention to their initiation, nourishment, and growth becomes more cruc