Mick, in the US, just about every state has a "state" university or college that's supported in large part by taxpayer dollars. The idea is that children of (taxpaying--and voting) residents of the state should have higher education available that's relatively close to home, and that costs less than a comparable "private" university. Residents of other states can apply for, and attend, state universities, but they almost always have to pay considerably more for tuition, room and board--the idea is to keep the tax subsidy for the residents, not the out-of-towners.
Some state universities are considered first-rate. But they're almost always huge. To give you an idea: At my daughter's graduation, they started awarding undergraduate degrees at 2 in the afternoon, and didn't get to the last grad until after 8 p.m.--and Rutgers isn't even big by some state U. standards. Michigan and Wisconsin are gigantic, and California has several huge campuses around the state.