Abstract: Deregulating universities is the consensus of many nations under the paradigm of decentralization, which is also a reform trend in American public higher education since 1980s. New Jersey state government carried out two significant decentralization reforms in 1986 and 1994, whose process has involved participants as many as possible, and the mechanism of democratic negotiation has been fully exerted. The state government has emphasized its role of macro-control, delegated powers by clear provisions of laws, and attached much importance to the intermediaries between government and higher institutions.