36 Comments - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 2:46 pm: Who says the Democrats didn’t cut state spending? - Precinct Captain - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 2:47 pm: Bruce Rauner, January 18th, 2017, in Champaign: “The U of I is a major economic engine for this state and I want to take them to a whole other level.” - Telly - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 2:52 pm: I always wonder how pension funding figures in these higher ed state-to-state funding comparisons. For the longest time, the state skipped or shorted payments to SURS. But for the last five or six years, that tab has been paid — to the tune of about a billion dollars a year. So do these numbers include direct funding and pension funding, or just direct funding? Makes it hard to compare Illinois to other states because I don’t think many fund higher ed employee pensions they way we do. Here’s another study that shows the opposite — that Illinois hasn’t cut higher ed funding nearly as much as most other states: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/fancy-dorms-arent-the-main-reason-tuition-is-skyrocketing/ - WhoKnew - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 2:53 pm: It would be nice to see something we as a State could “Hang our hat on” instead of something that makes us “Hang our heads’. - Handle Bar Mustache - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 2:56 pm: Well, Telly, one fact is clear: Compared to FY15, in FY16 higher ed in IL was cut about 70% under Rauner - and then in FY17 it was cut about 50%. Rauner pays lip service to higher ed but he has slaughtered state U bottom lines. - illini - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 3:06 pm: 54% reduction in just the past 8 years! UIUC being shorted by close to a Billion Dollars just these past 2 years! Several regional Universities on the verge of losing accreditation and being “closed”! MAP grants being discontinued and Community Colleges being underfunded by the state! Everyone is feeling the “pain” and all we get from BVR ( and the GA as well ) are the normal political polemics about how important Higher Education is for our State yet this is where we find ourselves today! Words vs. Actions! - wordslinger - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 3:11 pm: We’re out of our frigging minds. Soon, literally. - Free Set of Steak Knives - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 3:13 pm: === IL ranks second to last among big states for decline in higher education funding === So much wrong with the messaging, hard to know where to start. - illini - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 3:14 pm: @Wordslinger - Exactly, if we are not there already. - Joe M - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 3:17 pm: One university’s example, from a WIU web page: http://www.wiu.edu/budget/news/FY17%20Faculty%20Assembly.pdf WIU’s appropriated funds: FY02: Received $64,300,000 FY15: Received $51,445,000 FY16: Governor Rauner proposed: $36,011,640 Received: $14,911,000 FY 17 Governor Rauner proposed $41,156,160 Received stopgap $31,400,000 - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 3:21 pm: “Oh OW, UIUC is doing great! You keep saying state universities are short on cash, but it doesn’t matter…” Right now, UIUC has lowered admission standards, still has no scheduled MAP, no funding, nearly $800 million (and climbing) in reduced funding at the U of Is since Gov. Rauner became governor, and Rauner himself, his veto alone has U of Is fund-less. But… all is well. - middle ground - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 3:31 pm: Tally, isn’t the whole difference between the NY Times and the 538.com graphs the difference between Rauner and Quinn? - middle ground - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 3:33 pm: Tally, Is the difference between your graph and the one above just the different end-points, meaning that one ended in 2014 under Pat Quinn, and the other under Rauner? - VanillaMan - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 3:33 pm: Sorry, but the reason is only clear to someone too closed minded to consider more than one reason. - illini - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 3:49 pm: Second attempt to post - @Willy - I love your contributions to the worthy dialogues on this site, but I have to make a slight correction - while the UIUC may have “lowered their admission standards” this only applies to the basic requirements to apply. This is absolutely no guarantee that everyone who applies will be admitted. In some Colleges and Curriculum an applicant still has to be in the top 10% nationally to actually enroll. - DuPage Bard - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 3:54 pm: Drain the Swamp How high have administration expenditures risen compared to classroom expenditures in that same period? Where have the cuts come from and where have they been missing from? - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 4:02 pm: - illini - You’re falling into the “snobby elitist” UIUC thinker, bud. The school is lowering admission standards, not funding the university, no MAP, and out of state schools are gobbling up students that may have considered UIUC, but between the scholarships, the actual funding to those institutions, and stability, UIUC isn’t the University anyone thought it was even 3 years ago. Why would a student right now not choose Iowa State over UIUC in engineering, given the overall admitting is now lowered at UIUC and if this engineering student is in the top 10% of their class, 30+ ACT, and UIUC will cost over $80,000 more, at Jump Street? Can’t be “prestigious” and lower admission overall and have funding issues. With great respect. - Pelonski - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 4:17 pm: “Why would a student right now not choose Iowa State over UIUC in engineering, given the overall admitting is now lowered at UIUC and if this engineering student is in the top 10% of their class, 30+ ACT, and UIUC will cost over $80,000 more, at Jump Street?” Because UIUC is rated #6 in engineering by US News & World Report and Iowa State is #37. In addition, the in-state Illinois rate is cheaper than the Iowa State out-of-state rate. The lack of state funding has put the school on a path to decline, but it’s a slow decline, not a major plummet, and there is still time to get it fixed. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate - Sir Reel - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 4:23 pm: Yes, state support for higher education has falle. But it’s also true that the cost of higher education has risen faster than inflation (like the cost of health care). And while some of this cost increase can be attributed to less state support, until higher education costs are fully understood, we can’t begin to address the issue. That said, Illinois’ (lack of) support has got to be the lion’s share of the problem. - illini - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 4:27 pm: @Willy - this is a conundrum, isn’t it? Maybe I am a “snobby elitist” UIUC thinker but am a proud graduate ( twice ) and am deeply depressed about what is happening with my Alma Mater. Yet, I am concerned about what is happening to ALL of Higher Ed on my State - at all levels and with all institutions. We have far too much to lose unless we correct the wrong way our state has been going! - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 4:32 pm: - Pelonski - So out of 205 schools, Iowa Stae is in the Top Quarter. Further, you kinda-sorta missed the whole merit scholarship bit. A student I described could save $80,000 over 4 years, or get a full ride to Iowa Stare, a top quarter engineering university… Or go to a university lowering its overall standards, and no merit scholarships for the student I described, and while being admitted, will take on loans, (no MAP) in excess, with room and board, in state, one of the highest rates in the country. You want to “pay” for alleged prestige… lol - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 4:35 pm: - illini - You’re all good, bud. We’re on the same side here, but your love for your alma mater is blinding you to why Illinois as a state is only behind New Jersey in students leaving to go to college out of state. We need alums like you to care and be proud, and to insist that if UIUC wants to keep Illinois’ best and brightest, they’re failing now. Even lowering overall admission standards and “record breaking” enrollment can’t mask the cost, no relief, and the lack of funding. - Rod - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 4:47 pm: I am down in Tucson frequently and Arizonans take the decline in higher education funding they have experienced in stride. There also have been significant reductions in k-12 funding, with very large numbers of students of low income students going to cheaper to operate charter schools. About 16 percent of all students in that State go to charter schools and that percentage is going up yearly. Tuitions are continually increasing at ASU and Univ of Arizona at Tucson. But individual taxes are very low. Arizonans paid 30 percent less in general-fund taxes in 2015 than they did in 1992. I believe the key in Arizona is an acceptance of significant reductions in public services by most Arizonans. Here in Illinois we have relatively high expectations for State and local services, not so in Arizona. It’s really a mindset down there, it would be a great place for Bruce Rauner to live I think he would be very happy indeed. - illini - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 4:48 pm: @Pelonski - Thanks for helping to make my point. Granted, I got my degrees in the social sciences, but the University is still highly rated by most any field, but is renowned for its contributions in the engineering and other scientific disciplines. Yet, it costs a lot more to teach and mentor an engineer, physicist, medical researcher, or cutting edge computer scientist ( remember Hal? ) than it does to train a teacher, soil scientist, accountant or marketing specialist, but ALL OF THESE and many more disciplines are vitally important to our state. - Scamp640 - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 4:52 pm: @ OW. I agree. Rauner is really hurting the Illinois brand. And by this, I mean the University of Illinois brand to be sure. By most reputation / quality polls, only Northwestern and Michigan are better Big 10 schools. That is slipping. But Rauner is also hurting the state of Illinois brand. K-12 guidance counselors in Illinois are telling students to avoid Illinois universities and go to other states. How do I know this? My son and his friends are hearing that in the schools they attend. Rauner is just killing Illinois. It is sad. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 4:56 pm: ===Yet, it costs a lot more to teach and mentor an engineer, physicist, medical researcher, or cutting edge computer scientist ( remember Hal? ) than it does to train a teacher, soil scientist, accountant or marketing specialist, but ALL OF THESE and many more disciplines are vitally important to our state.=== This thinking isn’t what parents are thinking. You are literally saying “pay more for the same, but better, but not funded” If your thinking worked, respectfully, Illinois students wouldn’t be leaving for schools like Iowa State. UIUC is a state school. It’s cheaper for the student I described to go to neighboring states than UIUC and still get quality, and a university not reducing its admission standards. Those UIUC engineering students now are in an overall university reducing its bar of who can attend. Yikes. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 4:58 pm: - Scamp640 - Only New Jersey exports more college freshmen than Illinois. That’s with standards at the flagship lowered. Again, yikes. - Teach Your Students Well - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 6:00 pm: Way to go Rahm! How nice of you to promote the City Colleges of Chicago again today… Oops! The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board has just released a recommended decision from an administrative law judge that the City Colleges of Chicago has engaged in unfair labor practices by its repeated failure to negotiate in good faith with its adjunct faculty union (contract expired in 2012). - filmmaker prof - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 6:24 pm: OW, you keep repeating that UIUC has lowered its admission standards. Can you point me to where you got that information? Thanks. - illini - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 6:28 pm: @Willy - It is so hard for me to disagree with you - your points here may be very valid - but I am not sure that Iowa is the comparison that should always be raised as a retort to what is happening at my Alma Mater. I have so many, many problems with the notion that “reducing its bar of who can attend” will maintain the preeminence that my Alma Mater had when I did attend. Does anyone think that it might be time for our State ( both BVR and the GA ) to do what is necessary to help to maintain our status as a World Class University? - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 6:36 pm: - filmmaker prof - http://bit.ly/2jAJRmb - illini - We’re all good. In actuality, I’m trying to argue “Don’t give up on Illinois students” but it’s difficult until realities are actually recognized. Bud, it’s gotta stop. - DuPage Dave - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 6:51 pm: Someone please back up the claim about lowering standards at UIUC. Particularly in engineering. Thanks. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 6:55 pm: - DuPage Dave - Asked and answered. - Blue dog dem - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 7:13 pm: Filmmaker prof. I hesitate to ask the origin of that handle….. - east central - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 7:22 pm: FWIW from OW’s citation: “College coordinator Lianne Musser said those accepted to business and engineering programs were as qualified as those from previous years, but in other programs, “We had maybe a couple that kind of raised eyebrows that they got in,” she said.” - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jan 18, 17 @ 7:29 pm: (Tips cap to - east central -) Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.