Friday, April 22, 2016

Stop-Gap Funding: Obviously Better Than Nothing.

Today the Illinois State Legislature passed legislation that provides about three months of funding to the embattled state public universities. While the infusion of cash is indeed welcome, this timid measure hardly solves the public higher education funding crisis in Illinois. Here are some of the amounts earmarked for various state schools:

CSU gets $20.1 million (2015 appropriation $39.7 million)
GSU gets $6.974 million (2015 approp $23.9 million)
NEIU gets $10.7 million (2015 approp $36.9 million)
EIU gets $12.5 million (2015 approp $42.9 million)
WIU gets $14.9 million (2015 approp $56.8 million)

All the other state universities got similar proportionate appropriation reductions. As you can see, this is nothing more than a reprieve, no one got anywhere near their necessary funding. Although this legislation may provide some temporary relief, the struggle for adequate funding for public higher education in Illinois is hardly over.

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