State commission says Illinois underfunds public universities by $1.4
billion
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[March 07, 2024]
By COLE LONGCOR
Capitol News Illinois
Clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com
A state commission created in 2021 has issued a new report calculating
that public universities in Illinois are underfunded by approximately
$1.4 billion.
The Commission on Equitable Public University Funding is made up of 34
members, including legislators, representatives from public
universities, and members of advocacy organizations.
It found that dedicating an added $100 million to $135 million annually
to public universities would allow the state to bridge the funding gap
in 10-15 years.
The commission’s co-chair, Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Westchester, was
among several of its members to outline its findings at a Capitol news
conference Wednesday.
“When institutions are underfunded, they are unable to provide the
necessary resources and support to all students,” Lightford said. “This
perpetrates a cycle of inequalities, where those from affluent
backgrounds have access to better education, and subsequently better
opportunities, while others are left behind.”
Without state funding the financial burden has fallen on students. Ralph
Martire, the executive director at the left-leaning Center for Tax and
Budget Accountability, said the amount of operational funding covered by
the state has decreased from 72 percent covered in 2002 to 35 percent in
2021.
Martire said that as the cost to students goes up, college becomes less
accessible. Lack of access to higher education perpetuates systemic
issues such as income inequality.
“We are making higher ed more unaffordable for everyone in Illinois
generally,” Martire, who served on the commission, said. “But in
particular, for low-income families and families that have been
marginalized for decades.”
Higher education has seen increased funding under the Pritzker
administration, notably for the Monetary Award Program, or MAP grants.
In the current fiscal year, the state allocated over $700 million in MAP
funding, up from about $401 million when Pritzker took office in 2019.
The state’s total higher education budget is just over $2.5 billion in
the current fiscal year.
Commission co-chair Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, said that while
investments including MAP have helped students and universities, more
needs to be done.
“For decades, the state has used a system that largely provides
resources based on the negotiations that happen across the board,”
Ammons said. “But all institutions are not the same.”
Janice Jackson, CEO of Hope Chicago, said in an interview that the
commission looked at student needs as well the support and funding that
first generation, low-income, and minority students may need “not only
to get in college, but more importantly to persist and complete
college.”
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State Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Westchester, speaks at a news
conference Wednesday at the Illinois Capitol to highlight the
findings of a new report on state funding for public universities.
She was the co-chair of the commission that found Illinois
underfunds public universities by about $1.4 billion. (Capitol News
Illinois photo by Andrew Campbell)
The commission has been working to develop a formula to bridge the gap
in funding. By setting targets for each university and subtracting their
established resources, the commission calculated the gap in funding for
each public university. Public universities, including all sources of
available funding, are currently at 68.5 percent funding adequacy
collectively.
“The single most important driver of student success and of equity in
higher education is in our control. We can control what we invest and
how we invest it,” Robin Steans, a commission member and president of
the education advocacy group Advance Illinois, said. “And you may be
wondering, why haven't we done that before? And part of it is we didn't
have a roadmap. We do now.”
The commission looked at funding models from five states including
Tennessee and California as well as Illinois’ K-12 Evidence-Based
Funding model. The commission decided to base the higher education
formula on the K-12 model.
“This may sound familiar, by the way, because this is what we did in
K-12, to remarkable success to national acclaim,” Steans said. “It's
more complicated to do it in higher education.”
The K-12 model sets an individual funding adequacy target for each
district and calls for an added $350 million in state funding each year.
The bulk of that money is directed to districts that are furthest from
the adequacy target.
The commission laid out three possible time frames for bringing
districts closer to funding adequacy.
In the first, if the state increased funding by $135 million annually,
or 12 percent, all public universities would be fully funded in 10
years. If the state invested $100 million more annually, a 9 percent
annual increase, all institutions would be fully funded in 15 years.
If the state committed a 5 percent funding increase – or about $60
million each year – the statewide target would increase from 68.5
percent to 79 percent, according to the report.
Gov. JB Pritzker’s budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year 2025
would increase public university funding by about $24.6 million.
The commission’s report will be part of subject matter hearings next
week.
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