“I have directed my staff to begin processing payments immediately, giving top priority to students and the institutions that are suffering the most”.
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“Twenty million dollars is a lot of money”, said CSU President Thomas Calhoun. Katherine Tellez, media relations coordinator for Eureka, last week estimated students there will get about $500,000 in MAP money. It’s the deadline for students to accept admissions offers, and commit to attend the school they plan to attend. Without funding, universities and college have issued layoffs and cutbacks.
Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed a bill into law that allocates $600 million in emergency funding to public higher education in IL. Chicago State University is due to run out of money by the end of the month. Budget Director Matt Bierman said this emergency money would ensure the university wouldn’t have to lay off anyone else. He accuses Rauner of creating the situation and says he hopes Rauner approves human services funding too.
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno echoed those sentiments.
A vote on a rare bipartisan agreement to send $600 million to financially struggling colleges and universities in IL was delayed Thursday during a roller-coaster evening that once again highlighted how dysfunctional the Legislature has become in its tenth month without a budget.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is expected to sign the bill.
Rauner and Democrats who control the Legislature have been in an epic standoff over a budget that should’ve taken effect July 1. The reason is that the school has been on the verge of closing its doors.
When our well-educated governor (undergraduate degree in economics from Dartmouth and MBA from Harvard) employs fuzzy math, appearing heroic while slashing higher education funding by 69 percent, state students receive a poorer education. The funding proposal also includes almost $170 million in tuition grants for low-income students. “Members listened to their constituents. and they made a strong case”, said Pritchard, whose 70th District includes Northern Illinois University and Kishwaukee College.
The House passed the college bill 106-2, while the Senate passed the bill 55-0.
The bill signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner Friday also doesn’t solve longterm problems for IL colleges and universities, it merely delays their reckoning.
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“We still have quite a financial challenge ahead of us”. The $600 million in emergency funding will come out of the Educational Assistance Fund.
