Actually, the overall budgets of universities have increased substantially— they've more than made up for the lost state funding by raising tuition and other fundraising.

U.C. Berkeley, for instance, has increased its overall operating budget by from $1.6B in 2006 to $2.7B in 2018. That's a 68% increase over just the last 12 years! [1]

Universities are spending, and taking in, more than ever.

Even with all this cash, Elsevier's subscriptions are not cheap. The estimated cost for U.C. Berkeley is $1.15M per year. [2]

[1] https://controller.berkeley.edu/home/uc-berkeley-financial-r...

[2] https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-cost-for-a-university-subs...