* You’ll no doubt recall these recent quotes from Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno…

Lack of funding for higher education creates “uncertainty if you’re a student,” she said. But, she added, “some of these universities have cut some of their administrative costs –- sort of squeeze-the- beast theory.”

She said “global questions” about higher ed could now be asked.

“Should we have six, eight schools of education, everybody having a program and everything? I don’t know,” Radogno said. She noted a couple of two-year colleges went to four years, including what is now the University of Illinois Springfield.

“Maybe we ought to have more going from four to two,” she said.

* Those words caught the attention of the Champaign News-Gazette and state Sen. Scott Bennett, a Champaign Democrat who represents the U of I…

“What we don’t want to see is some kind of starving out, which is what’s happening now, where the strong survive and the weaker ones die away,” Bennett said. “That’s not the way we should be deciding our higher education system.

“Honestly, that’s what appears to be happening. I don’t know if that’s the design or neglect which is resulting in this.”

Radogno spokeswoman Patti Schuh described Radogno’s comments as part of a “freewheeling” conversation with the newspaper’s editorial board, not a policy proposal. The message, Schuh said, was that budget cuts present an opportunity to “look at things differently.”

“It’s been said by many, ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste,’” Schuh said. “There are legitimate questions that are being asked.”

But she added, “There’s no plan or policy on the table right now.”

OK, take her at her word. But this “squeeze the beast” theory is at the very least a de facto plan right now.

* Make no mistake, however. This current crisis comes after years of “squeeze the beast” policy by controlling Democrats. It’s been a slow-motion train wreck…

Excluding pensions and adult education/career and technical education (which came under community colleges oversight in 2002), community colleges, public universities, need-based financial aid, and institutional grant programs all have experienced decreases in funding since 2000 after accounting for inflation. The total decrease is $1.1 billion, or 36.4 percent.

Emphasis added.

* Universities are (often rightly) seen by state policymakers as top-heavy fiefdoms which need to rein in their own spending. But depriving them of state money hasn’t worked. They’ve continued to expand non-instructional staff and jacked up tuition…

* The upside here is that the universities have been incredibly powerful in the past. It’s why they got away with those massive tuition hikes and their over-reliance on non-tenured professors, etc. The past cuts obviously didn’t work. But the current starvation diet is making them much more amendable to change.

So, how about somebody come up with a reform plan before the whole system implodes and permanent damage is done?

* Not to get all gangsta or anything, but only a short-sighted bookie has his customer’s legs broken for refusing to pay a debt. The customer can’t pay if the customer can’t work. You only break his legs when it becomes clear that he has no intention of ever paying. I don’t think we’re there yet, by any means, but this current, super-intense “squeeze the beast” policy is as close as we’ve ever gotten to breaking some legs.

The university system is a big part of our heritage. Responsible stewards improve on that heritage to pass along to the next generation. Blagojevich and Quinn and the Democratic General Assembly were not responsible stewards. Rauner could turn out to be even worse unless he comes up with a plan.

       

43 Comments - Abe the Babe - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:14 am: There will be no plan unless and until boss Rauner approves one. However, judging by the comments of Mr. Goldberg on higher ed, we might be seeing the plan in action. #theystilldontgetit - Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:15 am: Let’s make an already complicated budget situation even more complex, a la Senator Cullerton’s hostage taking. The state doesn’t have a budget or economic plan yet, so let’s revamp the education funding formula and higher education while we’re at it. What could go wrong? - Obamas Puppy - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:17 am: Check the clock for scaling back tenure, elimination of tuition waivers and more “performance funding” regardless of a schools mission. That’s the playbook Rich and this guy follows the IPI/Heritage Foundation script. As for Radogno she is a lost puppy in a kennel full of wolves. - @MisterJayEm - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:19 am: “we might be seeing the plan in action.” Yep. – MrJM - Dan Johnson - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:20 am: I think we have too many research universities. A research university carries with it very high overhead costs and de-emphasizes teaching. Some think tank had a great report on this a few years ago that made the case that too many of our colleges became research universities. I can’t find it but will keep looking. We definitely need a new strategy for higher ed. Here is one neat report from the public research university perspective: https://www.senate.umd.edu/news/PublicResearchUniv_FinancialModel.pdf - Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:21 am: The “Truth in Tuition” law has had the opposite effect of its intention to lower tuition costs. Instead, since the state has been so unreliable in providing stable and predictable support for higher ed, the schools have had to raise tuition even higher for each freshmen class to cover the anticipated cuts from the state for the next three years. The people screaming about administrative bloat have no idea what functions those staff serve and what kind of state and federal mandates led to their hiring. - NoGifts - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:21 am: Tuition wavers function as financial aid to graduate students. Who’s going to get squeezed more here, the students or the institutions? - Ray del Camino - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:24 am: You might ask Rep. Terri Bryant how she is going to save the SO IL economy as SIU gets asphyxiated. - Abigail Adams - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:27 am: No. Just no. The last thing IL needs right now is to try to redesign higher ed. Yes, as the beast has been squeezed “efficiencies” have been found. This is happening to higher ed across the country. More contingent faculty are used. Fulltime faculty decrease in number. Admin grows to manage the blooming number of contingent faculty and the academic programs by which degrees are delivered. Don’t be distracted by a shiny object like higher ed reform. Just. Pass. A. Budget. Let’s see if that constitutionally required step can be achieved before tackling something like higher ed reform. Budget first. “My bursting heart must find vent at my pen.” - Earnest - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:27 am: >OK, take her at her word. But this “squeeze the beast” theory is at the very least a de facto plan right now. I don’t. This “get rid of the smaller agencies” stuff with regard to human services was going around as far back as last spring. I see intention here. - Annonin' - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:29 am: Guessin’ the leader just learned that talkin’ to the media can be dangerous BTW when she comes out of the coma could someone explain that every inch of IL is in a community college district so there is not much need to reduce the 4 year schools to two year schools opps. - Beaner - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:35 am: Radogno: What, a plan? No we have no plan, well, not in writing we are going to show the public. To see the HUGE cuts would be devastating to our voter base. So while we would like to formally plan the destruction of higher education in Illinois and share it in the spirit of being the most Transparent administration ever, we just have to accept the slow cash strangulation and just see how the chips fall. We have to have short-term pain, for the HUGE windfall of Prosperity which will lift up all the Yachts in Illinois by their cleats. - Anon221 - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:37 am: A reason to invest, on multiple levels, in higher ed (don’t be put off by the Hawaiian theme). Keep making it harder for students who are eligible for financial assistance, and you lengthen the time to complete a degree. Remember, Senator Radogno, if you squeeze something harder enough, long enough, you kill it. http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/02/is-there-a-way-to-help-college-students-graduate-on-time/463041/ - jim - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:37 am: she has a point. The reality is that Illinois has far too much education infrastructure for the number of students there are. that’s why some schools are having attendance problems. - Anon - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:37 am: The universities have had a hand in what has happened. They’ve raised the price of education so high, low-income students have no way to go without scholarships. Now, there are tens of thousands of college graduates across the country either unemployed or underemployed with student loan debt they have no way to pay off in the foreseeable future. With even less government support for MAP grants and the like, the trend of people thinking twice about spending 30K to 100K on an education when they could go to work immediately and start adult life debt free will grow. Again, all because the universities are pricing themselves out of a market. Lack of government funding will only speed up the process. - Bronco Bahma - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:38 am: “The total decrease is $1.1 billion, or 36.4 percent.” “They’ve continued to expand non-instructional staff and jacked up tuition.” Some of the sharp-minded among us might pick up on a rather obvious relationship between massive cuts in state support and increases in tuition. Oh. And BTW…please provide some examples of “non-instructional” staff. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:43 am: ===The reality is that Illinois has far too much education infrastructure for the number of students there are. that’s why some schools are having attendance problems.=== What do you base this on, given the amount of Illinois students going out-of-state because of instability and pricing seems to be a bigger factor in students leaving Illinois universities not too much infrastructure. Your rationale is, eliminate universities and attendance will rise? Please show your work… … how that will be done as the University of Iowa, Iowa State, and Missouri, to name the blantent obvious university’s poach Illinois seniors from Illinois, Illinois State, Western Illinois… - DuPage - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:45 am: I read Rauner wants to cut higher ed by 25% next year. What about this year? Will they ever be paid what they are already owed? - Bull Moose - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:51 am: I don’t buy this argument that we need universities to consolidate/specialize. A lot of folks pick universities that are close to home and many switch their majors as they discover what they want to be in life or to retool. Bottom line: consolidation = less opportunity. - Graduated College Student - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:52 am: === when they could go to work immediately and start adult life debt free will grow. === Minimum-wage service sector jobs are not exactly a path to debt-free adult life either. And they kind of cost the taxpayers money too. - Columbo - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:53 am: Glad Radogno brought up the subject, as I’ve also got a few “global questions” to ask. The first is what is the game plan when you implode Illinois higher education? How does that fit into the narrative of growin’ jobs and atractin budinesses? And this “beast” that is being squeezed, with all the benefits it produces for students and the state, will at best get much smaller. Which means options for students will also diminish. How is that winning? And for those that think there is some grand strategy, I think we are giving them too much credit. We are 8 months down the tracks, and my sense is that they have no clue how to fix an issue (higher ed) that has historically been a priority for the Republican side. All the while they watch their own members and their communities get devastated. Unreal. - Norseman - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 11:59 am: Too often policy leaders’ idea of achieving efficiency in a government organization is to decrease funding. It’s time for some rational discussion and analysis on how to improve education. Oh, silly me. We’re in the Rauner years. Analysis and rationality is not the order fo the day. - Langhorne - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 12:00 pm: Plan? We doan need a stinkin’ plan. Starve the beast. Everybody, just chill. You are part of history, and can tell your grandkids your university closed but we got term limits. So get a third minimum wage job, enjoy living in your parents basement, and make your student loan payments - My New Handle - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 12:08 pm: I think a possible reason for Quinn, Madigan, Blagojevich not being good stewards of public universities is that they are products of either private universities, or, in Blagojevich’s case, out of state schools. They didn’t or wpuldn’t find much sympathy with the reliance of many Illinoisans on our public universities. Also, many of those university campuses lie within a Republican district. The flip side: look back several years at the funds going to Chicago State, despite its lackluster academic reputation, because CSU was a favorite of Emil Jones. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 12:12 pm: Some republicans have been crowing for years that you don’t need a chemistry program (or pick some other major) at all 12 public universities. What these rocket scientists don’t realize is the number of chemistry courses (or whatever other major) that are taken by non-chemistry majors to either satisfy requirements in other majors, minors, or general education requirements. Also, before you get too radical about changing general education or anything else, make sure you don’t cause the school to lose accreditation in the process. - illinifan - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 12:13 pm: State funding priorities are key to helping keep our colleges and universities affordable. One example is Tennessee where Community College is free for some students. Funding source for this is the lottery and state general revenue. Secondary benefit it attracts employers who will have a well trained work force. Tertiary benefit, businesses pay taxes as well as the employees of the business. But government provides the seed for the growth. - Ret Professor - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 12:25 pm: Cheap loan money and grants have driven competition for students. It is that simple. Computer centers, labs, rec and athletic centers, individual dorm rooms, student activity staffs. Coddle, coddle, coddle to get their money. It is a consumer driven market with high paid consultants. - thunderspirit - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 12:28 pm: == Bottom line: consolidation = less opportunity. == Students who desire opportunity should have been born to wealthy parents who could send them to private schools. /s - Mama - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 12:33 pm: Stop giving MAP grants to foreign students. - Mama - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 12:35 pm: Look at what other successful state universities are doing to hold down their cost. - Anon - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 12:35 pm: College Grad Student: That’s a big part of the problem right there. There are a lot of jobs between graduate level training and minimum wage service sector jobs. Trades come to mind first, and they pay WELL. Those born after about 1960 have been raised to believe college is the only way to make a good living. It’s just not true anymore. - Chicagonk - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 12:40 pm: http://www.sheeo.org/sites/default/files/project-files/SHEF%20FY%202014-20150410.pdf A lot of interesting data in the above report. It even includes a case study on higher ed funding in Illinois. I was shocked by the enrollment decline in Illinois in comparison to other states. - forwhatitsworth - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 12:52 pm: ===Glad Radogno brought up the subject, as I’ve also got a few “global questions” to ask. The first is what is the game plan when you implode Illinois higher education? How does that fit into the narrative of growin’ jobs and atractin budinesses?=== More jobs at McDonalds will be created. - ??? - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 1:31 pm: “Stop giving MAP grants to foreign students.” Huh? Mama @12:33, “foreign students” aren’t eligible to get a MAP grant. I think you’re confusing this program with…I don’t know what. - Chicago 20 - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 1:39 pm: Too many folks are trying to get college degrees. Much of that money should be used to help businesses here in Illinois instead of throwing it away on education. Irene Rosenberg needs Illinois workers at her Nabisco plant without college degrees, as long as they can compete in a world labor market and accept a $3 per hour wage while Irene personally makes her $21 million a year. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 1:41 pm: Perhaps the thinking here is that only families with money should be able to send their children to college—as in—the olden days. Perhaps the thinking is going back to the ages of social stratification–more blatantly spelled out than has been. Perhaps the thinking is that we all shouldn’t have to foot the bill for kids who can’t afford college. If you want to go, find a way, but we ain’t helpin you. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 1:41 pm: Bad governing is not a plan anymore than drowning is a form of swimming. Anyone thinking Rauner is helping anyone is mistaken. His lack of governing is as bad as letting cancer run amok to ensure a patient’s weight loss. Rauner won’t even tell us a plan because he knows that if he does - he will lose. No one voted to have Rauner do to Illinois what he has been doing to Illinois over the past year. His political stands helps no one. He assures us a bright future no one can live in, in order to make us suffer now. No one is benefiting from this man’s administration. Even his supporters are suffering, but just aren’t smart enough to realize the secondary consequences yet. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 2:01 pm: Mama, yes, please do compare IL public universities. You will see we are already among the most efficient. The crowd yelling about waste has not done any homework. - Stumpy's bunker - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 2:39 pm: The ol’ golden parachute specter rears its ugly head, especially at the U of I, every once in a while. Obscene amounts of money are sometimes handed out when somebody in the higher ed world gets the bum’s rush. I’m as much of a higher education proponent as anyone, but these media-magnet giveaways are just fuel for the Rauner folks. - Juice - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 3:08 pm: Someone who actually had in interest in performing their duties as Governor might be inclined to point to their authority under Article V sections 9 and 10 and go to the gubernatorial appointed boards of trustees and make it clear that they need to get their costs under control or else they will be removed from their post. But no, holding them hostage and then blaming them for their profligate ways is much more impactful. - Filmmaker Professor - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 4:29 pm: Since Gov Rauner doesn’t understand his job, could someone point out to him that HE controls the Boards of Trustees who govern our public universities. If he wants to trim administrative costs, just get the Board members who serve at your pleasure to do it. Or would you prefer to blame Madigan for this too? - sal-says - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 6:14 pm: == * And a new study looks at the state’s inadequate reimbursement rates… == raunner: ‘AND I DON’T CARE !’ - wordslinger - Tuesday, Feb 23, 16 @ 6:43 pm: –Radogno spokeswoman Patti Schuh described Radogno’s comments as part of a “freewheeling” conversation with the newspaper’s editorial board, not a policy proposal.– “The Freewheelin’ Christine Radogno,” featuring such classics as: “Blowin’ Billions in the Wind” “Don’t Budget Twice, It’s Alright” “I Shall Be Squeezed” “Talkin’ Social Services Shakeout Blues” “A Higher Ed’s a-Gonna Fall” “Bruce Rauner’s Dream” …and many more. Recorded in Springfield with the Fearful Mushrooms. Produced by Bruce Rauner. Available now on Bustout Records. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.