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* The Center Square…
Officials from three of the state’s public universities went before a Senate committee on Wednesday to detail their funding requests, including one double-digit increase.
Public universities had a difficult during the two-year state budget impasse brought on by the stalemate between former Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democratically-controlled General Assembly. With Democrats firmly in control of all levers of state government, some of the state’s universities are asking for more funding than they had received in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s first state budget.
Representatives from Eastern Illinois University, Governors State University, and the University of Illinois presented requests to the Senate Appropriations II Committee on Wednesday.
The University of Illinois system, which announced it would break a years-long tuition freeze this fall, requested a total of $657 million in the fiscal year beginning this July, a more than 12 percent increase in state funding from the current year, not including a $303 million request for capital project spending.
“We deferred upgrades during the budget impasse, we had to,” U of I President Timothy Killeen said of the steps the system was forced to take in recent years due to lack of state funding.
Higher education funding would remain level in Gov. Pritzker’s budget unless the graduated income tax is approved by voters in November.
“Adjusted for inflation, this increase would still be below … our fiscal 2015 funding level,” said U of I System President Timothy Killeen. “And I want to remind you, we now have many thousands more students in our classrooms than we did back then.” […]
But some members of the committee were skeptical of the need for that large of an increase. Among those was Sen. Scott Bennett, a Champaign Democrat, who noted that U of I recently announced plans to raise tuition starting in the fall of 2020 after going five years with no tuition increases.
“When, by then, you had to increase tuition, it was at the same board (of trustees) meeting in which certain administrators also got increases,” Bennett said. […]
Killeen, however, noted that during the budget impasse, U of I eliminated about 300 higher-level administrative positions and that the school’s focus would be building up its teaching faculty by hiring 100 new faculty per year for the next five years.
The amount of ground lost by the state’s higher education system during the previous three administrations did incalculable harm. And the impasse darned near killed them off. Yes, I know this is a maintenance budget and there just isn’t a lot of money out there to be had. But the same Democrats who spent four years complaining about the damage done by Bruce Rauner should be stepping up now.
* Related…
* MAP is back - Increased funding to help low-income college students
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 9:50 am
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This is the ball game. If you fail to grasp this institutional knowledge, then talking about higher education here in Illinois will be hot air or worse, pandering.
=== The amount of ground lost by the state’s higher education system during the previous three administrations did incalculable harm. And the impasse darned near killed them off. Yes, I know this is a maintenance budget and there just isn’t a lot of money out there to be had. But the same Democrats who spent four years complaining about the damage done by Bruce Rauner should be stepping up now.===
Whew. That’s it. Let’s break it down;
“The amount of ground lost by the state’s higher education system during the previous three administrations did incalculable harm.”
That’s THREE administrations, sixteen (or so) years of damage done to higher education. While other states see higher education as an asset for its state and residents, there’s been this budgetary choice to see higher education not as an investment, but a cost with limited return. It’s been tragic to see the lacking.
“And the impasse darned near killed them off.”
You had legislators who had universities in their districts and region voting, continually, to purposely cripple or close universities. Don’t tell me that’s not true, Eastern was so broke try couldn’t afford to mow the lawn, and had others question their existence. I look at Raunerite legislators who turned their backs on state universities, while some even touted that they taught at one. While the first to administrations severely damaged higher education, the third wanted to passively end higher education for some schools. It was that bad. Some aided and abetted that past Governor. Gleefully.
“Yes, I know this is a maintenance budget and there just isn’t a lot of money out there to be had.”
At some point, feeding a starving asset to barely keep it competitive makes the asset worth less by barely keeping it afloat. Higher education matters. Maintaining its existence isn’t helping it meet its mission, it’s forcing more challenges to thrive and grow,
“But the same Democrats who spent four years complaining about the damage done by Bruce Rauner should be stepping up now.“
Where o where are the yellers? Where are these Dems who pounded the table about the damage the past administration and previous administrations did? Where are y’all?
A budget is the true monetary measure, the weighing of policy via dollars.
You can’t tell me higher education matters when the past 16 years, including these past four years happens, and you’re “cool” with “maintaining” the status that exists.
There needs to be a commitment.
Where are the Dems? Where are the Raunerites? Is this administration committed to higher education or lip service?
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 10:26 am
Gimme. Gimme. Gimme.
Comment by Collinsville Kevin Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 10:30 am
=== Gimme. Gimme. Gimme.===
Well, businesses want to move to areas with an educated population.
And an educated population makes more money and pays more in taxes.
Some of the exodus are students bypassing Illinois Universities for greener pastures.
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 10:47 am
You might want educated people to stop say raging viruses. ….
Comment by Not a Billionaire Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 11:08 am
To obtain a business degree at UIUC, tuition is $21,000+ per year. Add on fees, housing and food, the tab will run between $30K-$35K annually.
Guess that isn’t enough juice to operate efficiently.
Comment by Pick a Name Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 11:08 am
=== Guess that isn’t enough juice to operate efficiently.===
You paid full price, you want that to matter, amirite?
The monetary issues for ALL the universities in this state can’t be fully covered by tuition, and not everything will be resolved by monetary windfalls without guard rails.
Don’t worry, you still get that joy of paying full price.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 11:13 am
“Adjusted for inflation, this increase would still be below … our fiscal 2015 funding level,”
SURS will do that.
Comment by City Zen Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 11:24 am
===Guess that isn’t enough juice to operate efficiently.===
What are the fees for K-12 at your school district?
Regardless — their budgets are usually very public documents. You can take a look at what the universities are spending on.
But when my pappy paid basically nothing to go to a state school it wasn’t because the cost of his education was basically nothing.
Comment by Candy Dogood Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 11:28 am
Candy, I’m sure you know this, but roughly 58%-63% of the real estate bill(very high) goes to the public school system.
Yep Willy, back in the day, I paid full price except for a couple of small awards that discounted tuition. Recently I read that a study claims UIUC has the best ROI in the Big Ten(Big 14)
Comment by Pick a Name Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 11:35 am
- Pick a Name -
You bragged about paying full price for your kids.
…
Want me to show where you did?
As long as you don’t have buyers remorse…
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 11:37 am
It’s almost like a dem supermajority has everyone expecting a big windfall. Maybe they don’t know the worst funded pensions in the country took a 10 percent loss in 3 days with no end in sight.
Comment by Let the good times roll Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 11:46 am
=== took a 10 percent loss in 3 days with no end in sight.===
Trump’s economy, amirite - Pick A Name -?
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 11:48 am
===10 percent loss in 3 days===
It’s not all invested in the markets.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 11:48 am
===Candy, I’m sure you know this, but roughly 58%-63% of the real estate bill(very high) goes to the public school system.===
Well as I am sure you know, Pick A Name, that’s called a tax levy. K-12 fees are low because K-12 is supported by public spending.
If you want your property taxes to go down, the solution to that again is to raise income taxes and a progressive income tax rate is the best way to do that.
Comment by Candy Dogood Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 12:44 pm
Ya Willy, Coronavirus is Trump’s fault.
I said(not brag) that I paid full price, as did most people I know. However, the prices 12-15 years ago were nowhere close to what they are now.
Comment by Pick a Name Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 12:49 pm
=== Trump’s fault.===
Guess a POTUS *can’t* control the market, for good or bad.
:)
To the braggin’… “ok, go with that”
To the post,
I’d also add… maybe reorganizing and re-examining the whole system, but move towards action not “blue ribbon panels” might move higher education into better health in the 21st century.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 12:53 pm
Candy, I am definitely voting against the progressive tax as are many people that I talk with. Sales tax in Springfield stands at 9.75%. In Missouri, gas was selling around $2.20 recently compared to $2.45 in Illinois. Real estate taxes are sky high and hurting the Illinois economy.
As you may or may not know, IL is near the top for highest taxation.
Comment by Pick a Name Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 1:23 pm
===as are many people that I talk with===
The plural of anecdote is not data.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 1:35 pm
=== However, the prices 12-15 years ago were nowhere close to what they are now.===
Because higher education is subsidized less now.
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 2:26 pm
==However, the prices 12-15 years ago were nowhere close to what they are now.
Because higher education is subsidized less now.==
Because 12-15 years ago we were only contributing around $300 million to SURS instead of nearly $1.7 billion now. Spread that difference out across 165,000 students enrolled in state universities and you’d get a significant reduction in tuition.
Comment by City Zen Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 3:06 pm
==Candy, I am definitely voting against the progressive tax as are many people that I talk with. Sales tax in Springfield stands at 9.75%. In Missouri, gas was selling around $2.20 recently compared to $2.45 in Illinois. Real estate taxes are sky high and hurting the Illinois economy.==
These are the very reasons I am voting for the fair tax.
Comment by don the legend Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 3:58 pm
=== Because 12-15 years ago we were only contributing around $300 million to SURS instead of nearly $1.7 billion now.===
SURS is funded by tuition? I had no idea.
Here’s an article of states funding of universities: https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/a-lost-decade-in-higher-education-funding
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Friday, Feb 28, 20 @ 7:19 am