 Quinn had a closed-door meeting Wednesday at the executive mansion
with university and community college presidents.The governor is
trying to shore up support for his State of the State pledge to
increase funding for the Monetary Assistance Program, or MAP, a
program that awards grants to students whose parents earn on average
no more than $35,000 a year.
However, Quinn's office is not commenting on how much funding the
governor will be requesting, or where that money will come from.
"Details of the governor's plan will come Feb. 22 during the
budget speech," said Kelly Kraft, Quinn's budget spokeswoman.
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale President Glenn
Poshard said after the meeting Wednesday that Quinn's proposal will
help keep thousands of students enrolled in a college or university.
"It's extremely important to us. We have a large number of
low-income students at SIU," Poshard said. "The governor has ensured
us that he will go all out for the MAP grant, and we were all very
appreciative of that."
Nearly 1,600 of SIU Carbondale's 20,000 students are eligible for
MAP grants.
But while Quinn and the college and university leaders discussed
spending more on MAP grants, the reality is that the state owes many
of these schools millions of dollars in overdue payments.
Poshard said SIU Carbondale is owed nearly $86 million in state
aid payments for faculty salary or campus improvements.
"Well, we know there is only so much money to go around, but we
are hopeful that the governor is making this effort, and we are
going to try to get behind him," Poshard said.
Late state-aid payments are one of the factors driving up the
cost of college, said Robin Steans, executive director of the
education advocacy group Advance Illinois. Steans said that as the
state sends less and less money to colleges and universities, those
institutions have to turn to students to make up the difference.
"One reason that Illinois is so unaffordable is because the state
has shifted the burden of funding colleges and universities," Steans
said Wednesday.
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Steans said Quinn should "be applauded" for trying to expand the
grant program, but she warns that new dollars for MAP grants should
not come at the expense of other education needs.
"These are extremely difficult times to make that investment,"
Steans said.
Al Bowman, president of Illinois State University in Normal, said
schools in Illinois are not the only ones to see students who need
more financial assistance.
"Nationally, funding for public higher education is at a 25-year
low. ... And we've got some tough times ahead of us," Bowman said.
"(But) I do think in Illinois there is particular support for public
higher education, and I think the governor's support for the MAP
program is a good example of that."
The U.S. Department of Education released a study in 2008 that
echoed Bowman's estimates.
But state Rep. Lisa Dugan, D-Bradley, said the governor's focus
on four-year colleges and universities is alienating some high
school graduates.
"Instead of going to a four-year university with a master's
degree in something, they'd rather have the training and be a master
electrician or a master plumber and be certified statewide for that
trade job," Dugan said.
Dugan added that she hopes the governor also could find money for
technical or vocation training.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By BENJAMIN YOUNT]
Illinois Statehouse News reporters Stephanie Fryer and Anthony
Brino contributed to this report.
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