To encourage legislators to support higher education in the State of Illinois’ 2016 fiscal budget, representatives from public universities took a trip to Springfield.
Each of Illinois’ nine state-funded colleges were represented Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at a series of meetings with Illinois legislators. According to the University of Illinois, the college’s president, Timothy L. Killeen scheduled the day’s meetings. Killeen’s goal was to show that cutting funding from these schools would be devastating to the state’s economy.
“We understand the difficult decisions that legislators face this spring to put Illinois on the road to recovery,” Killeen said, “but investing in public universities is an investment in solutions – and in the future of our state.”
Governor Bruce Rauner proposed a budget that would cut spending in general funds by $387 million, according to a report by Chicago Tribune.
School presidents and board chairs wrote a letter that was shared with the General Assembly. In the letter they cited an Economic Policy Institute study that found that high-wage states have a highly educated workforce.
According to a 2014 U.S. Department of Labor report, workers with a bachelor’s degree earn 65 percent more than workers with a high school diploma. The earnings gap is nearly double for workers with a master’s degree and almost 140 percent more for workers with doctoral or professional degrees.
“We must not compromise on the excellence of our institutions and of the education we provide to the citizens of Illinois through damaging and precipitous cuts in funding,” presidents and board chairs wrote in their letter to legislators. “We believe that maintaining a robust, sustained, and predictable level of state support for our universities is absolutely essential for the future wellbeing and economic prosperity of our state.”
