75 Comments - Been There - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:30 am: I wonder if she can still get a student loan. Not the best alternative but still better than having to chose between your kids future or your property taxes. And still an unacceptable situation - Albany Park Patriot - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:30 am: Maybe Bruce Rauner can explain to the family why this “little” pain is good in the long run (as a way to bust unions). - Anon #2 - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:30 am: Although I don’t know if I’d consider a 24 year old “a kid”, this is disappointing. I think we can guess who the father (and the daughter) will be voting for in the next election. - illini - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:30 am: And this is only the beginning. Stay tuned folks, more of this to come. Thank you BVR for your support of Higher Education! - Norseman - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:32 am: Governor Rauner appreciates your sacrifice for his anti-union crusade. - Team America - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:32 am: Definitely a tough situation, but if they don’t like the taxes here now, wait and see if Mike Madigan gets his way to jack them up further. Fair to ask how this family voted in the past? We all get the government we vote for. - DuPage - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:33 am: Dear Lewis, We are all in this together, just ask the State Universities and Community Colleges. Hang in there, The Governor - Jenny P - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:34 am: == having to chose between your kids future or your property taxes. == I am sitting here literally ill after reading this. When are we going to stop tolerating this crap??? - OneMan - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:35 am: Dear Lewis, please feel free to take what money you are still spending to send stuff to my daughter trying to get her to apply. The money you spend sending mail to my wife to attend to get a degree below one she currently holds and apply that to the $2,500 - James Knell - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:36 am: Thanks for covering this Rich. - Arizona Bob - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:37 am: Colleges spend a FORTUNE on bureaucrats to assist students in finding ways to pay their sometimes exhorbitant fees to find ways they can afford to matriculate there. It’s really a black mark on Lewis that they couldn’t work this out with the student. I’m sure student aid issues pop up all the time. I really question whether the student actually explored all the options here is this troubling time of governmental dysfunction in Illinois. That’s just one trip for an Admin to a convention or seminar. I’m sure with this publicity Lewis will find a solution…they spend too much on marketing and public relations for this to “brand” them. - Precinct Captain - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:37 am: Another rousing Rauner policy success. - wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:39 am: Hang in there, Boeing 747! - Pessimistic - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:39 am: If the student receives the diploma, what incentive is there for the state to fund the grant? The schools aren’t the bad guy here. The institutions aren’t punishing the students. This one falls squarely on the shoulders of the governor and our legislative leaders. This may be a relatively isolated incident now, since December graduations aren’t very large, but come May, this could very well be a much bigger issue. - Precinct Captain - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:40 am: ==- Arizona Bob - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:37 am:== Good lord, being on MAP is exploration enough. The last thing MAP grantees need is to be getting in bed with groups like Sallie Mae. Plus, there is no way this student could have known Lewis was going to take an action like this based on something that could not have been predicted at the beginning of the semester. - Team America - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:41 am: Funny how so many people are ready to jump down Rauner’s throat to blame him for the relatively short term problem of certain state checks being held up, but not the long term problem caused by the Mike Madigan machine that has led the state into the current state of financial ruin. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:42 am: ===the current state of financial ruin=== The lack of a FY16 budget plays a big role in that, dude. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:43 am: ===…wait and see if Mike Madigan gets his way to jack them up further. Fair to ask how this family voted in the past?==== Ugh. Let’s break this down, shall we? Remember, the reality is; MAP funding being held up is denying this student her diploma. She’s a student. She met the requirements for MAP, met the requirements to graduate. Nothing, not one thing in the above has anything to do with her involved in any budget, budget impasse, political posturing, or as an entity that is a contributing factor in the governing of Illinois. Keep that in mind… “…wait and see if Mike Madigan gets his way to jack them up further.” What does Mike Madigan and this “tax” meme have to do with any of the givens we know as true in the above? Are you my #1 purchaser of “Fire Madigan, 2.0″ merchandise? “Fair to ask how this family voted in the past?” Are we now subjecting any and all victims of this hostage taking subject to their voting records? Do we now all have to “prove” … “I voted for Bruce Rauner”? No one is on your lawn - Team America -, but how sad you are to try to even remotely think you have standing with your ignorance. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:46 am: ===Funny how so many people are ready to jump down Rauner’s throat to blame him for the relatively short term problem…=== “Short term pain, for big long term gain” - Bruce Rauner. I blame Bruce under your premise, and his statement. Questions? - Silent Budgeteer - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:46 am: Our older daughter’s significant other is enrolled at Monmouth College; he’s paying for everything with student loans, some small scholarships, and MAP grants. Monmouth has “suspended” his health insurance due to the lack of MAP payments. The young man has no income due to Wal-Mart laying him off because he went back to college (at age 26), even though he had requested a transfer to a store closer to Monmouth. The health insurance came to play when he nearly came down with pneumonia because he couldn’t afford to go see a doctor when he first developed a respiratory infection. He came home for a weekend and we had to force him to go to a doctor (our family physician agreed to see him) because the emergency room would not take a non-insured patient who would have to pay cash (or payment plan). So, our family is helping him pay for his visit and prescriptions. Thanks a lot, Monmouth and Illinois. The young man will remember you both fondly. - sal-says - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:48 am: It Is IL. Usually disfunctinal these days. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:49 am: ===…Mike Madigan machine that has led the state into the current state of financial ruin.=== No, no, NO! “The Combine”. It’s “The Combine”. You need to go Full Kass, otherwise your ignorance lacks a cite you can use later. Now me, I’d probably reshape it, for ya like… “… The Combine that has led the state into the current state of financial ruin.” See, now the utter lunacy only sounds warped. - Joe M - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:50 am: Arizona Bob, the costs of colleges and universities have changed a lot since you were a student. At a typical regional Illinois state university, the annual costs for a student are around $23,000 The maximum federal and state financial aid package available, including MAP grants, totals around $16,000 annual aid. That still leaves a gap of $6000 annually for the student and their family to make up out of their pocket. And that is for a public university in Illinois. - wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:51 am: –Funny how so many people are ready to jump down Rauner’s throat to blame him for the relatively short term problem of certain state checks being held up,– I’m guessing if you weren’t paid for five months, that “short-term problem” wouldn’t be a laugh riot. But like you said, it’s “relative.” If you’re not in the barrel, what’s the big deal? - illini - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:53 am: The apologists, excuse makers and “blame Madigan” crowd seems to be taking up on this thread. Beware, and call them out! - thoughts matter - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:55 am: For those of you who wish to be judgemental about the 24-26 age group not having any money (the references to too old to be a ‘kid’), these are some of the people that I am willing for my tax dollars to support. They ARE trying to do the right things to be successful in life. They are broke (the number 1 criteria for a MAP grant), they are in school. They are getting student loans (you didn’t think the MAP grant fully funded their education, did you? - it just covers some of the cost over and above the maximum allowed to borrow for a government student loan), they are trying to be responsible and carry student health insurance, they are trying to find or keep jobs. By the way, most private student loan companies want either very high interest rates or co-signers. I don’t see any reason to blame the students here. - Anon221 - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 10:59 am: I know the downside to this suggestion, but has this young woman or the young man (Silent Budgeteer) looked at a GoFundMe campaign? I realize these campaigns are not the long-term answer, and cynical, perpetual rascals will grin at the thought of people helping people to further the rascally mantra of “See, you can do it on your own!”, but maybe this online community could help out in the interim. We did it before. - Team America - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:06 am: === The lack of a FY16 budget plays a big role in that, dude. === Arguing with the host never gets you anywhere here, but I’ll bite anyway. I would agree if you said “a role”, Rich, but a “big” role? Maybe if we’d had a FY16 budget that reflected the actual revenues that were coming in (not the prior year’s under the inflated tax rates), that would have worked. Madigan wasn’t going to go for that, so here we are. But the bigger point is the fact we’ve spent more than we’ve taken in, for too long. Hence, Madigan. Can’t blame Rauner for that. Cue “Kass Combine Response.” - Rich Miller - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:07 am: ===but a “big” role?=== Yes, a big role. - Columbo - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:09 am: Its beyond laughable that that some here would blame Lewis University. Most private universities in Illinois match MAP grants 5-1 with their own aid. The state made the promise to help the state’s neediest students, and they are not following through, simple as that. As a reminder, a budget was passed that included funding for MAP, but was vetoed, under the ruse of “piecemeal” budgeting. This is insanity on steroids. As OW likes to say, “Governors own” - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:10 am: Boy - Team America -, you make a solid point. I especially enjoy where you point out in Governor Rauner’s budget that… Oh. That’s right. There’s not a budget that Governor Rauner had, and even Rauner’s proposed unbalanced budget required revenue. Not optional, required. Are you a gag? Heaven knows I like a good comedy bit… - Team America - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:12 am: Never eat at a place called “Mom’s,” never play cards with a man called “Doc,” and never argue with Rich on his own blog. It’s going nowhere. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:14 am: ===Its beyond laughable that that some here would blame Lewis University=== Well, if you believe that universities should be run exactly like businesses, I would agree with you. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:14 am: Being a victim to your own ignorance by blaming others for not being able to speak to your own nonsense… that’s still in you - Team America - - illini - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:20 am: And now it is Richs fault that your inane ramblings are being called out. I really feel sorry for you! - Disco is on Life Support - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:22 am: We need to tolerate a few short-term plane crashes to achieve long-term gains. Duh. - Team America - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:22 am: Willy - how ’bout we just exchange mutual “Bite Me’s” and leave it at that. - mcb - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:22 am: It does seem like this particular student’s issue could be easily solved at least for the short term. The air controller school simply needs to check with the college to confirm that the student has the degree, the college says she does, and then everybody moves forward. If the ATC school needs a physical college diploma, then that would be the first instance of that I have ever heard of. Anyone else supply their physical diploma for a job or next step in education? I can’t imagine a single employer not hiring someone for lack of their physical diploma. Don’t get me wrong, no MAP grant funding is bad. But this a terrible example of the consequences. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:24 am: - Team America - It IS the holiday season, how about you just say it and I’ll ignore it. - Arizona Bob - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:26 am: @Joe M =At a typical regional Illinois state university, the annual costs for a student are around $23,000= I’m well aware of that, Joe. Of course those numbers include university housing as well, which varies dependent on housing requirements by the U. The problem is that only about 40% of a University budget is spent on “instruction”. You can check out that number in a typical University of Illinois posted budget. For undergraduate education at big U’s it’s much below the average since primary instruction is performed by VERY low cost grad students, at least compared to faculty cost. About $8-12K is probably a better figure for undergrads at a place like UIUC, plus housing and food. It’s always been my position that a far higher percentage of education expenditure in state universities should go to instruction. Non-grant funded research, admin and overhead should get a lot smaller piece of that pie. BTW, the same sort of exploitation for low paid instructors occurs at the JC level. Adjunct faculty when I taught at JC was only $300 per credit hour (no benefits). The full time faculty cost per credit hour was about $6300. Essentially our low pay was subsidizing the union instructors…BIG TIME! I was just doing it for enjoyment, but I’m sure the students didn’t get a “discount” for having exploited adjunct faculty. BTW this was in the late 1990s. - walker - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:29 am: Team America: Please stop ignoring the fact that Governor Rauner’s own budget proposal required at least $3.1 Billion in new tax revenue to balance. Due to delays, it now is a higher number. I quess you are arguing that Rauner didn’t cut enough spending in his own proposal. This impasse is more on the Turnaround Agenda, than the 2016 budget numbers. The sides were not very far apart on the actual spending numbers. Holding up these payments, and all they impact, is a deliberate tactic to cause short-term pain to get longer-term changes. Again, as Rauner himself has explained. Hard to be taken seriously here without facing the facts. - Joe M - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:30 am: mcb, it doesn’t quite work like that. Transcripts are held up until a student pays their bill. Official transcripts are what is used for proof of a degree. - mcb - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:33 am: -Joe M So you work in the entrance office of the ATC school? Good to know. Either way, still a simple solution. Lewis releases the transcript, which costs them nothing, then they wait on their money from the state like everyone else. - Beaner - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:37 am: Are we bashin’ Speaker Madigan to keep the focus off of Governor Jim Edgar and his dandy Pension Ramp? Just wonderin’. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:41 am: ===…Governor Jim Edgar and his dandy Pension Ramp?=== Now this student should look to the Pension Ramp, named after a governor because governors own, as to why she can’t get her diploma… and not the FY2016 Impasse? - Anon221 - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:43 am: As far as hard copies of transcripts- many Federal jobs require that now since 911. Don’t know about ATC, but some jobs still do have this requirement. - Pessimistic - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:45 am: -mcb You’re missing the point. If Lewis releases the transcript, they have fully provided the benefit without receiving payment for the service. You don’t need to look any further than the state’s treatment of the Veteran’s Grants to know why Lewis is reluctant to issue diplomas until they receive the funds promised to them by the state. I admit this isn’t a perfect example since private universities don’t receive Veteran’s Grants, but the point remains the same. Universities and colleges are in the business of educating students, but if they wanted to be part of the piecemeal budgeting that is FY16, they hurt themselves by floating the MAP grants to the students in the first place. Nobody would have guessed the state would still be without a budget by the end of the fall semester, let alone the spring semester. If the schools don’t wish to eat a FY16 Map-Grant-holiday, they haven’t been left with many other choices. - wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:49 am: I’m guessing that the governor’s full veto of the approps bill containing MAP grants, resulting in zero dollars in FY16 for MAP grants, played a major role in there being zero dollars in FY16 for MAP grants. Geez, the rationales and justifications, what few there are, for holding the budget hostage get weirder every day. The other day, JD said it was a good thing because it forced state agencies to look for non-proprietary software and universities to hire instructors with “street cred.” It’s just a big bowl of nonsense. - Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:49 am: Is it just this one student and only this one college? - mcb - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:52 am: -pessimistic No I’m not missing the point. This is a private school that has likely charged this student around $100,000 (or much more, it is private after all) for a 4-year degree. But they can’t take one simple step that costs them nothing, just to keep a student moving forward. For what? $2500? There is a good chance this student will need transcripts again (fed job maybe), and she will likely want her physical diploma. They aren’t giving the entire value away with a one time transcript release(which they can send direct to the ATC school so the student can’t make copies). Be reasonable. If that is too outlandish, then this school needs to reevaluate their mission, because it certainly isn’t educating and enriching students. - Joe M - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 11:53 am: ==So you work in the entrance office of the ATC school? Good to know.== No, I had five kids of my own go through college, and learned a little bit about tuition and transcripts being released from that experience. - Dr X - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 12:16 pm: What would Dave Ramsey say?? While I agree with most of the comments here, the fact is that a new normal is here. It will be mean and lonely. We should be adjusting our expectatons downward, ever downward. - Mama - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 12:31 pm: Some colleges are allowing students to make monthly payments. - Sad Commentary - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 12:34 pm: Lewis University assumed the risk when they agreed to float MAP funding for the fall semester. The whole situation stinks, but the university should not penalize the student for this. What are the public universities doing? - LizPhairTax - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 12:34 pm: Young Lady, I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost future you thought you had, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of the Turnaround Agenda. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 12:42 pm: ===What are the public universities doing?=== You mean the state universities that will open their doors after July 1st and the state still not funding them? Well, if the telephone bills are paid, and/or the electricity is still on, and the person answering emails or the phone hasn’t been let go… you could ask. - Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 12:44 pm: 3 decades of budget imbalances, borrowing, overspending, and sticking it to future generations is now coming home to roost. Madigan, Edgar, Blago and Quinn send their regards. Sorry, kid. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 12:48 pm: ” - Anonymous - ” (ugh) So… the FY2016 Impasse has no impact on this? The governor vetoing the funding appropriated has nothing to do with this? I’m confused, a chosen veto has no consequence? The fact that K-12 funding was signed doesn’t show a purposefulness to choosing the “who and what”? That’s amazing. - wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 12:49 pm: –3 decades of budget imbalances, borrowing, overspending, and sticking it to future generations is now coming home to roost.– Are you under the impression that the governor’s veto of MAP grants was a move for fiscal responsibility? Spend some time reading comptroller’s reports for FY16 and get back to us. “Leverage.” It’s not a secret. You don’t have to pretend. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 12:57 pm: The Tweet of the Year; @RonSandack: I’m frustrated 2, but taking steps towards reforming IL more important than short term budget stalemate. If you don’t understand anything to the specifics, understand The Owl, Ron Sandack. Ron Sandack tweets that students facing challenges like these are worth it for the Turnaround Agenda. Ron Sandack is willing to stand behind the vetoes hurting people, because it’s worth it. @RonSandack: I’m frustrated 2, but taking steps towards reforming IL more important than short term budget stalemate. Make no mistske; It’s not Edgar or Madigan. It’s not Democrats or Unions. It’s not Pensions or Debt. It’s a raw choice, propped up, like a prop, in a Tweet, or more apt, a hoot. - Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 1:29 pm: “So… the FY2016 Impasse has no impact on this?” “Leverage.” Yep. Leverage and crisis born of 3 decades of budget imbalances, borrowing, overspending, and sticking it to future generations. It would be mighty nice to have a flush rainy day fund, budget surplus or balanced budget to fall back on right now, rendering the current budget impasse an easily rectified moot point while the two chiefs work out their personal conflicts. - Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 1:32 pm: Or even some of that money being spent to service the pension obligation bonds or any number of other lingering obligations that we much pay for now because the can was kicked for decades. Having that money to use now, instead of having it previously committed by administrations and budgets past, would go a long way. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 1:33 pm: ===Yep. Leverage and crisis born…=== … from Bruce Rauner deciding leverage over kids when he had the chance. Governors always own vetoes. It’s thiers, it’s their choice. - 47th Ward - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 1:37 pm: Oh good, another MAP thread! For those of you who think Lewis “floated” the grants, what makes you say that? Did Lewis announce that? The way MAP works is, students applied back in January/February. In March, ISAC sent the students an estimated award letter, indicating the amount of the grant they’d receive for the fall semester. Typically, the Comptroller doesn’t pay those awards to the schools until about now anyway, but every year prior to this one, since the inception of the MAP program, the state has provided these grants to Illinois students. Unfortunately, the award letter contained the three worst words in the English language: “subject to appropriation.” And even though it’s possible the state could still include MAP in a budget, each passing day makes it less likely that there will be enough revenue to pass a full budget, even at 2014 levels. So in short, please don’t blame Lewis. I’m more than certain Lewis provided the grant funds it promised to this student. The blame lies squarely on the elected officials who think a budget that helps low-income students graduate from college is a political football to be played with. - @MisterJayEm - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 1:41 pm: “Fair to ask how this family voted in the past? We all get the government we vote for.” I didn’t vote for this crap. – MrJM - Anon - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 1:49 pm: I’m dishearten every time there us an issue everyone tries to assert fault or blame someone or group. I realize its the Illinois way but I’m tired of it. The fact is that colleges honored student accounts to keep them enrolled for their education hoping a budget would be enacted by the end of the calendar year. To me it would most hypocritical if legislators were to try and force college administrators to just absorb the $180 million in Map awards owed to them for the fall semester by calling on them to credit the MAP student accounts and suggest they should just continue into the spring semester as if was business is usual. For those who believe we should run gov’t more like a business, what business would endorse this financial model when you just waive your accounts receivables and just continue to open yourself to more liability in the future not knowing when or how much your expected revenues will be? “Ownership” of this is issue should not rest on the shoulders of college administrators. It’s just outright unfair. - Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 2:40 pm: == I didn’t vote for this crap. == I also miss Pat Quinn. - Demoralized - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 2:42 pm: ==what business would endorse this financial model when you just waive your accounts receivables and just continue to open yourself to more liability in the future not knowing when or how much your expected revenues will be? == What does withholding a diploma have to do with that? If they don’t want to accept the liability then don’t allow students to pay with MAP grants any longer. You don’t punish the student for what is going on. This is just bad form by the college. ==It’s just outright unfair.== And withholding the diploma is fair? - wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 2:49 pm: –If the student receives the diploma, what incentive is there for the state to fund the grant?– As the Rauner administration chose to make MAP students hostages in the first place, I doubt very much they’re too concerned that they’re now double-secret-probation hostages. - 47th Ward - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 2:56 pm: ===This is just bad form by the college.=== Not really. It’s business. The student owes the money. The state, via ISAC, promised the student the grant. Then it did not pay. Like any other student owing money at graduation, no payment, no diploma. That’s standard practice and has been that way for a long time. I really wish people understood that MAP is awarded to students, not to universities. This is how most of the private universities will respond to the MAP crisis. By sending the bill back to the student. If it’s bad form for a business to expect payment for services rendered, we may need to re-think our system of capitalism. - Demoralized - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 3:00 pm: 47th: So you agree with the decision to withhold the diploma? I can’t possible believe you would be so dismissive. The college agreed to accept the student’s MAP grant as payment. As far as I’m concerned once the college agreed to allow the student in on that basis it becomes the college’s problem, not the student’s problem. If the college doesn’t want to take that risk then they should not accept MAP grants as payment any longer. You are viewing this through a cold hearted lense with respect to this student and I find that sort of thinking sad. - Federalist - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 4:14 pm: Lewis University may be a business but it is also supposed to be an educational institution (maybe the institution thinks otherwise) Give the student the diploma and work with students to sue the state so the university can get the money. Show a little CLASS! - 47th Ward - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 4:26 pm: Look gang, what the state is doing by not paying the MAP grants that were already awarded to students is the equivalent of adding $373 million to these students debt this year. If you think every community college and university in Illinois is going to eat the state’s IOU, you’re crazy. Moreover, because of this crisis, many schools are going to go out of their way to avoid enrolling students who rely on MAP. So low-income high school seniors are getting screwed right now but they don’t know it yet. Come March, when they check their mailbox for a letter from their preferred college, will it be there? And if it still comes, will they still be able to afford it without MAP? I can’t believe people here are blaming colleges for the state’s failure. We don’t blame vendors who cut off the state due to lack if payment. But some of you expect colleges to essentially work for free? This is real, long-term damage. To this year’s students and also, invisibly, to next year’s freshmen class. The blame belongs solely with the Governor and with the General Assembly. THe Year without a Budget is an unmitigated disaster. If you can’t see that, you aren’t paying attention. - Illinoisvoter - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 4:31 pm: Between this story, the AARP Poll, and the posting Putting a Face on Line Items it appears we have a theme for the day in the disproportionate price we asking the young to pay for out past lapses. Making bricks without straw and lives without the foundations needed to build opportunity is this just lazy politics or bad judgment? - Mama - Thursday, Dec 17, 15 @ 5:11 pm: Here is a thought: When you cut funds to the public universities, they will have to close. At that point, it will be cheaper for the corporate raiders to purchase and privatize those universities. It is all about helping businesses. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.