* InsiderHigherEd…
It’s impossible to examine state higher education finances in 2016 without separating the collapse in Illinois from a more nuanced picture across the rest of the country.
State and local support for higher education in Illinois plunged as the state’s lawmakers and governor were unable to reach a budget agreement and instead passed severely pared-down stopgap funding. Educational appropriations per full-time equivalent student in the state skidded 80 percent year over year, from $10,986 to $2,196. Enrollment in public institutions dropped by 11 percent, or 46,000 students.
That situation proved to be enough of an outlier that it weighed down several key markers in the 2016 State Higher Education Finance report from the State Higher Education Executive Officers association, which is being released today. The report annually offers an in-depth look at the breakdown of state and local funding, tuition revenue, enrollment, and degree completion across public higher education, a sector that enrolls roughly three-quarters of students in U.S. postsecondary education.
Include Illinois in the report’s key markers, and overall public support for higher education fell by 1.8 percent per full-time equivalent student in 2016, to $6,954, according to the report. Exclude Illinois, and overall support increased by 3.2 percent, to $7,116.
Mind boggling.
The full study is here.
* The governor said this yesterday…
OK, but the biggest problem has persisted for the past two years, and it’s large enough that it’s dragging down the whole country’s averages.
Hooray!
…Adding… Comptroller Mendoza via St. Louis TV…
“It’s unsustainable. At some point the entire university system will collapse. They’re probably going to have to look for another university to go to, and it’s not going to be in Illinois,” she says.
Mendoza challenged teachers and administrators to not be quiet, to let their lawmakers and the governor know they want a state budget.
“There’s only so far that they can go without getting state funding, so maybe even if they don’t close their doors they’d have to eliminate a whole series of programs and even colleges within the university. We’ve already seen other universities do that,” she says.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:02 am:
===Include Illinois in the report’s key markers, and overall public support for higher education fell by 1.8 percent per full-time equivalent student in 2016, to $6,954, according to the report. Exclude Illinois, and overall support increased by 3.2 percent, to $7,116.===
Math IS Math.
The destruction of Illinois’ Higher Education is so devastating that being 1/50th of the pool size, Illinois is the lone drag on how mathematically funding overall is seen
1/50th of the country, but a lone drag to comprehending the national funding average.
The Rauner Library has a new exhibit I hear at Dartmouth. The Rauner Dormatory allows more students the opportunity to stay and learn… in New Hampshire… at a private university.
If you think for even a nano-second that the RaunerS are concerned about Illinois higher ed, the RaunerS make sure they have their names on things they feel are important, and spend money to promote politics of squeezing things they don’t care about, but the “unwashed” might think are important.
- X-prof - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:05 am:
“University system is one of my biggest frustrations.”
The feeling is mutual.
“University system is one of my biggest hostages.” There, fixed it.
- Almost the Weekend - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:07 am:
When is somebody going to make the connection or put out there, Rauner clouts his daughter into a CPS school even though his family lives in New Trier School district taking a spot for a Chicago Child. Runs CPS into the ground. Sends his kids to college out of state, is running IL higher ed into the ground.
He acts like he’s a normal guy while he has absolutely nothing at stake. The awe shucks, motorcycle routine is running Illinois off a cliff.
- Honeybear - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:08 am:
Perfidy
The insidiousness of perfidy is that the intensional lie or obfuscation leads to the perpetuation and deepening of the problem because it cripples the advance of a solution.
We simply have lost functioning government
We are Athens after the plague. (Thucydides, History of the Pelloponesian War) Rauner has unmoored is from our democratic anchor and we are adrift in a sea of gaslighting.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:09 am:
Rauner is committed to making Illinois the Midwest Mississippi as quickly as possible. By his actions, that’s clearly his model.
- Deft Wing - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:10 am:
The embarrassment compounds.
- thunderspirit - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:12 am:
If there’s no value to public higher education — and that is clearly Governor Rauner’s take on Illinois’ university system, by word and by deed — there’s no reason to keep it around.
- illini - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:12 am:
This is the fourth story in the past 4 days about the deliberate destruction and denigration that is going on with all of Higher Education in Illinois.
What does it take for anyone to start paying attention before it is too late?
The patient is already on life support. Who is going to pull the plug?
- Ray del Camino - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:13 am:
You ought to go visit Carbondale. You can feel the defeat, frustration, and resignation in the air. Wonder what it’s like in Charleston?
Heckuva job, Brucie.
- BigDoggie - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:15 am:
I’m a UIUC grad. My oldest child is a UIUC grad. My second child is a junior currently at ISU. My two youngest children will not even be allowed to consider an in-state public institution. No ifs, ands or buts.
- Michelle Flaherty - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:21 am:
When Rauner says the problems have been there for decades, he’s talking about the universities themselves. As in, he thinks we have too many and wants fewer.
- independent - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:22 am:
Our Governor is again showing such leadership, to bad its in the completely wrong direction. He will never let a philosophical position be interrupted with facts.
- weltschmerz - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:22 am:
CPS and the University systems are extensions of Dem party clout game. Rauner used his to get his kids in CPS and teachers in both systems use their’s for advancement. Old story.
- Demoralized - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:24 am:
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a Governor who took responsibility for something. He spends an awful lot of time telling us all how nothing is his fault. Yeah, it’s not all his fault. But, for pete’s sake, the man has been Governor for over two years. He has had a direct impact on the happenings of the last two years and the failure to fund higher ed is one of those things. The man is the Governor. He needs to act like one.
- Lynn S. - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:34 am:
Did I read this correctly? Do we truly have 46,000 fewer students enrolled in higher education in Illinois? Because at a community college-level tuition of $5000, that’s $230,000,000 in economic activity that’s not happening in Illinois.
That’s just head-shakingly stupid, Bruce.
And what’s worse–the downstate voters who keep sending folks like Reggie Phillips to Springfield to go along with the Governot in the destruction of their communities.
Just… Wow…
- wordslinger - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:37 am:
Demo, Rauner is accomplishing his objectives that are “doable.” He’s just dishonest about it.
- don the legend - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:43 am:
And from our representatives and senators we hear….crickets.
- Saluki - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:45 am:
I would love to see a poll commissioned on a Blago vs. Rauner “if the election were to be held today” question.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:50 am:
IBHE has been without an Executive Director, Acting or otherwise, for over two months now. What’s the story?
- illini - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:53 am:
@Ray - understand your frustration and I am familiar with Carbondale even though I don’t live close.
The Paul Simon Institute is holding a forum at 5 pm today with Senators Shimpf and Fowler. I am sure they would like to hear from you!
- Earnest - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:55 am:
Listen, Madigan and the Democrats have run the universities into the ground for decades. Rauner’s only had two years to fix them. /s
- Winnin' - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 10:00 am:
This is on Gov. Inept.
In two short years, our universities are tankin’ and our unpaid bills have nearly tripled.
The “no hope” governor.
- x ace - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 10:04 am:
University of Missouri St. Louis has a Billboard on I-55 offering Students in 21 Illinois Counties Tuition Same as if “In State” to Cross the River for College.
- walker - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 10:13 am:
Apparently, each specific problem directly created or drastically increased by Rauner, will be spun as simply part of a decades-long trend.
Any ownership or responsibility at all?
- Arock - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 10:16 am:
Such a large problem and yet Madigan and his minions sitting on the sidelines doing nothing to solve the budget problem which is not unlike them watching CPS and the University system add more administrative jobs over the years while cost to students increased. If everything throughout the state is in such dire straights you would think they would sit down and compromise with the Governor. After all their job is to represent all the citizens of Illinois not just the ones that own them.
- anon2 - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 10:20 am:
“The worst in the country.” There’s a slogan for Rauner to run on.
- Anon221 - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 10:23 am:
Remember Dr. Rauner’s endorsement- this is Bruce’s all part of education agenda.
- Anon221 - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 10:30 am:
Edit- this is all part of Bruce’s education agenda.
- DuPage - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 10:32 am:
@ Almost the Weekend 9:07 ===When is somebody going to make the connection or put out there, Rauner clouts his daughter into a CPS school even though his family lives in New Trier School district taking a spot for a Chicago Child.===
While I disagree with most everything Rauner has done, this one is an exception. In this one case, Rauner was legal. Rauner did own and occupy a luxury condo in Chicago, and his daughter became a “Chicago child” as she moved into it and lived there while attending the CPS high school. That’s one of the advantages of owning 9 mansions, you can change your residency from one to the other. To discriminate against his daughter because she “used to” live elsewhere would have been illegal.
Regardless of how I feel about Rauner’s actions as governor, I feel he was doing what he could as a good parent, putting in a good word for his daughter. His daughter did nothing wrong, and should not be dragged into her dad’s politics.
- Puddintaine - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 10:37 am:
Why don’t the Academics just think of a solution?
- btowntruth from forgotonnia - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 10:55 am:
You would be surprised how much disdain there is for “book learning” in at least some parts of our state.
My part has a bunch of it.And it’s kind of sickening.
That is a good part of the “base” for people like Phillips and Hammond and Bryant.
And they know it….
- Norseman - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 11:03 am:
=== Why don’t the Academics just think of a solution? ===
We don’t need academics or academicians to come up with a solution. The solution is to vote Rauner out of office.
- titan - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 11:15 am:
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:02 am:
Math is indeed math. While one of 50 states is indeed 1/50th of the pool. The states are not all equal. Illinois is essentially 1/25th of the US pool (population-wise). Math is math, but not all math is well done math.
The main point of the article remains though.
- Chucktownian - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 12:03 pm:
The solution is indeed to get rid of Rauner. Here’s hoping the growing warehouse scandal rids us of him before 2018. I suspect there’s more where that came from. Governor Reformin is apparently just as corrupt as his predecessors. Imagine that.
- Jimmy H - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 12:11 pm:
- Honeybear - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 9:08 am:
“…we are adrift in a sea of gaslighting.”
Honeybear, very well stated! Could not agree with you more.
Rauner, Trump, and it seems that the majority of the GOP are embracing the post-truth ideology.
- fed up - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 1:58 pm:
The objective is to turn a blue state red regardless the collateral damage. The other goal is to have a conservative resume to run for another political office. I don’t believe for one second being a good Governor for Illinois is his goal.
- anon2 - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 2:01 pm:
=== Listen, Madigan and the Democrats have run the universities into the ground for decades. Rauner’s only had two years to fix them. ===
The quarter century of GOP governors prior to 2003 had nothing to do with it.
- PeteAlmighty - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 2:10 pm:
The university system has been cutting for almost a decade. Our funding has been reduced yearly and the last two years almost to nothing. We are on the brink and the students, local economy and the state will suffer if universities begin to close. It will happen and soon. If students leave they won’t be back to spend their $ or use their degree in IL. Short sighted GOP. {and no I am not from Chicago state
}
- Former Hoosier - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 3:02 pm:
Hope all those folks who believed Rauner would be good for Illinois are happy!
My daughter is graduating soon from New Trier H.S.- you know the one that wasn’t good enough for Rauner’s kid- and going to Indiana University. While IU is on the upswing, U of I is on the downswing. As more and more professors leave U of I, programs are beginning to suffer and more high performing Illinois kids will turn their backs on our flagship school. This type of brain drain is not good for our state.
- City Zen - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 3:40 pm:
==Why don’t the Academics just think of a solution?==
Because we need real, not theoretical, solutions.
- City Zen - Thursday, Apr 20, 17 @ 3:44 pm:
==programs are beginning to suffer and more high performing Illinois kids will turn their backs on our flagship school==
If you look at how UIUC’s ratio of resident/non-resident student population has degraded over the years, you will see our flagship school turned their backs on Illinois kids long ago.