* We talked about this press release on Monday…
Today, Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) announced that public universities in Illinois achieved the highest enrollment level in 10 years, with nearly 190,000 students enrolled during the fall semester of the 2025-26 academic year. Total enrollment at Illinois public universities increased for the second consecutive year and is the highest in 10 years according to IBHE’s annual First Look Fall Enrollment report.
* Homewood-Flossmoor Chronicle…
Governors State University President Joyce Ester hosted a meeting with faculty and staff on Nov. 17 to discuss finances and ask for help balancing the budget. In an email to faculty and staff on Oct. 27, Ester, who took over as president in July, announced the university has been operating at a loss. She explained that GovState had an operating loss of $5.5 million in fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
* We also talked Monday about declining enrollment at Western Illinois University. More about WIU and Eastern from Capitol News Illinois…
In 2024, WIU announced it was cutting nearly 90 faculty and staff positions as part of a plan to meet growing budget pressures. And EIU announced in October it was also eliminating dozens of faculty and staff positions due to revenue declines brought on by several factors, including lower international student enrollment.
But others point to the state’s current formula for funding higher education and note that EIU and WIU are two of the least adequately funded universities in the state. The Illinois Commission on Equitable Public University Funding, which has proposed legislation to overhaul the funding formula, estimated last year that EIU was being funded at 48% of its adequacy target while WIU was being funded at 46% of adequacy.
The proposed legislation, which failed to advance out of a Senate committee during the spring legislative session, would establish a new formula that would give underfunded schools like EIU and WIU priority for any new higher education funding. It would be similar to the Evidence-Based Funding formula that lawmakers have used for K-12 education since 2017. […]
“We haven’t taken a position on the proposal,” [Deputy Gov. Martin Torres] said. “The governor has been focused on increasing access to financial aid, buoying the state’s investment in the institutions, and I think we’ve seen success from there. I think there’s probably going to be much more conversation about that proposal, and we look forward to it.”
* The University Professionals of Illinois is part of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, and the new IFT president is Stacy Davis Gates. So, if you think this UPI press release has a familiar ring to it, you’re not wrong. But, the union’s overall point about under-funding isn’t wrong, either…
Illinois - University Professionals of Illinois (UPI, Local 4100) President and Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) Membership Secretary John Miller released the following statement in response to Governor JB Pritzker’s announcement glossing over the higher education funding crisis while touting university enrollment:
“Governor Pritzker’s announcement ignores the crisis unfolding on our campuses. If he wants to tout enrollment numbers, he must also explain why he is still withholding $25 million owed to higher education. Enrollment gains do not fix understaffed departments, the elimination of professional librarians, inadequate resources, or student-support systems pushed to the breaking point. Illinois cannot celebrate numbers while refusing to address the conditions students, faculty, and staff face every day.
“Illinois continues to lose too many students to out-of-state public universities because it is simply more affordable for them to leave. This long-term brain drain is the direct result of the state’s failure to invest, and no press release can cover that up.
“Last week, UPI members and students delivered thousands of postcards demanding that the IBHE support the Adequate and Equity Funding Bill for our state universities. Since 2002, the state has underfunded our universities by more than $1.4 billion, which has caused increased student debt and a lack of resources at our institutions. While the state funds the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign at 90 percent adequate funding, the rest of the public universities are funded at less than 70 percent, with the lowest funded at only 45 percent. All Illinois students deserve the same resources that UIUC provides.
“Students are paying the price for decades of state underfunding. Illinois universities have been clear. The governor’s continued delays deepen the harm. In October, faculty and staff were forced to travel to Springfield to demand that the governor release the higher education funds he still refuses to provide. Campuses have already absorbed losses from declining international enrollment and shrinking federal support. Illinois State University cut $12 million from its budget last year because the state did not meet its obligations. Both Eastern and Western Illinois Universities have recently eliminated faculty and staff positions to counter the cuts: they have nothing left to give.
“Students require more advisors, counselors, staff, and faculty. If Governor JB Pritzker wants to claim success, he must also take responsibility for the broken funding system that harms our students and institutions. He must fully fund higher education and immediately release the money owed to our universities. Anything less means he is celebrating numbers while ignoring the people behind them.”
This is where that $1.4 billion number comes from…
A groundbreaking report highlights a $1.4 billion underfunding of Illinois public universities, proposing a strategic increase in state funding. Ralph Martire, executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and commission member, pointed out the decline in state funding for operational costs from 72% in 2002 to 35% in 2021, exacerbating college inaccessibility and systemic income inequality.
- JS Mill - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 11:16 am:
Shorter UPI/IFT- We are going to behave like CTU now and attack anyone that does not give in to ur demands/tantrums.
- Stanley - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 11:27 am:
Ralph is obviously not counting the increase in state funding for pensions, which went from $6.9 billion in 2001 to $11.6 billion in 2021 in his operational costs figure.
- NIU Grad - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 11:28 am:
Ah yes, the very successful “why he is still withholding” argument to object to made up money that is hidden in the budget that the governor just refuses to release. Because that has worked so well for that hidden CPS bailout.
- Sue - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 11:35 am:
Stanley raises an interesting point- pensions are part of state education costs at every level- as more dollars are absorbed by pensions everything else gets squeezed- end of discussion
- SAP - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 11:35 am:
Don’t agree with SDG on much, but this is right on:
“Illinois continues to lose too many students to out-of-state public universities because it is simply more affordable for them to leave. This long-term brain drain is the direct result of the state’s failure to invest, and no press release can cover that up.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 11:39 am:
The University Professionals of Illinois sounds like a band that would play Gatsby’s on .50 cent pitcher night, back in the day.
“everything else gets squeezed- end of discussion”
You do know you’re not talking to your cats, right?
- Pot calling kettle - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 11:41 am:
===We are going to behave like CTU now and attack anyone that does not give in to ur demands/tantrums.==
Disagree. The defunding of Illinois Higher Ed has been going on for 25+ years with foreseeable (and now historical) consequences. Funding was cut in half by 2010, universities had to raise tuition to make ends meet, and a large percentage of students began leaving the state for more affordable options.
This is not a tantrum, it is problem that has been ignored for decades. The folks in higher ed (admin and faculty) have been working to get that funding back (behind the scenes/below the radar/etc) for most of that time and have been consistently ignored. It would seem that as long as enrollment is good at UIUC, the rest of the system can be ignored and left to slowly degrade. However, those financial pressures have resulted in faculty at all of the universities (with the exception of UIUC) to join unions (IFT and IEA) in order to get a stronger voice in Springfield. The growth of UPI (and Miller’s move into upper IFT leadership) is the result, and the members expect their leadership to raise the visibility of this issue.
The Pritzker admin has allowed UIUC to put a brick on the proposed funding bill (developed over the past few years through a fairly rigorous process) because they refuse to accept the reality that the other universities (including the others in the U of I system) need more of any new money than UIUC needs.
John Miller has been doing this work for many years; he is now raising his voice not to be petulant but to push for full funding of the university system and to push back against the behemoth that is UIUC.
- Sue - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 11:50 am:
There is a reason Gov Quinn called that snake squeezy- hope JB thinks long and hard before deciding on the future of Tier 2
- TNR - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 12:03 pm:
@Stanley has a point. If you don’t consider the state’s contribution to SURS, Illinois appears to be underfunding higher ed compared to other states. If you do count state appropriations to SURS, then Illinois spends more per student than any other state.
For years, the state shorted or simply skipped pension payments for higher ed employees and all the funding from Springfield went straight to university operations. The state is actually spending more now than it did then, but a big chunk is going to pension debt instead of the classrooms.
https://shef.sheeo.org/report-2/?report_page=enrollment-and-state-funding#education-appropriations
- Dupage - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 12:04 pm:
Both the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois have spent a large amount of money that they expected to be reimbursed for by the federal government. The federal administration changed, and the money is not likely to be paid, ever.
- JS Mill - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 12:04 pm:
=not to be petulant=
Disagree.
@Stanley and Sue use something totally unrelated to bring up pensions.
The majority of that 11.6 billion is due to legacy debt because the system was underfunded. It was underfunded because the ilga and governors did not want to raise the needed revenue to fulfill their legal obligation all the while state employees and teachers were fulfilling theirs.
Due to Tier 2, the annual cost of the pensions (what the state pays in not legacy debt) has been reduced by more than $600 million and that number grows every year.
- Mason County - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 12:06 pm:
In 2024 Private schools received $272 million in student MAP grants. This should be reconsidered. These are private schools. Originally private schools were included because of the stated need of enrollment pressures on public universities. Obviously that is no longer the case. Yes, I realize that many of these schools have a Rep in that district and politics would play a role.
Still an important issue that needs to be addressed.
https://www.ibhe.org/DataPoints/2025/IBHE_First_Look_Fall_Enrollment_2025-26.pdf
The data below is from 2022 and the most recent I could find. Some $267 million were awarded to private schools for Capital projects. Again, needs to be reconsidered.
https://www.ibhe.org/assets/files/ICCIGP/Independent_Colleges_Capital_Investment_Grant_Program-Approved_Funding_By_Insitution_Revised.pdf
- thinkin - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 12:11 pm:
It physically pains me when I agree with SDG or anyone who spouts off her talking points. I appreciate the governor’s office has an interest in touting any and all successes in Illinois given that is part of his job, but his administration has ignored public higher education for 6 years. His press release was tone deaf.
- Stanley - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 12:20 pm:
You certainly are a glass half full guy.
With 142 billion in unfunded liabilities, that 600 million annual catch up will have us in the tall cotton in no time.
- Thought folly - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 12:30 pm:
@ pot kettle
== the Pritzker admin has let uiuc brick the higher ed funding formula==
Kinda like they let them brick the administrations CCBA proposal?
I completely agree with your assertion that this is a real issue but is it really out of the realm of possibilities that an entity powerful enough to stop an initiative of the governor mentioned in the state of the state might also be powerful enough to brick the funding formula all on their own?
- Cool Papa Bell - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 12:32 pm:
=WIU and Eastern=
As an overall happy grad of WIU and the kid of a one time department chairman at WIU, I pretty much won’t even consider letting my senior look at WIU or EIU. The decline has been stark for directionals over the past 15 years (for a ton of reasons).
It’s moon-shot time for those schools. Illinois (the state not the Big Ten school) has a vested interest in stabilizing enrollments and trying like heck to grow them. WIU and EIU are almost to point of what do we have to lose when trying something different there.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 12:38 pm:
===might also be powerful enough to brick the funding formula all on their own? ===
They aren’t, but their opposition is very convenient for people who don’t want to increase state spending by $1.4 billion.
- Mr. Middleground - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 12:43 pm:
UPI has a valid point. Enrollment loses at EIU, NIU, SIU and WIU are directly tied to declining state support. Approximately half of all college bound high school graduates leave Illinois for school. Many of these students never return—forever lost from our tax base. Adequate college funding is a long term revenue generator.
Also, the UIUC’s appropriation increase over the last couple of years alone is more than the entire appropriation for EIU or WIU. The new funding formula would make a big impact for student retention within the state.
- Candy Dogood - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 1:01 pm:
===But, the union’s overall point about under-funding isn’t wrong, either===
If I were an AFT member this is exactly why I would have supported their new President.
Reduce the people that make your schools and universities possible to being a “means of production”, don’t be surprised if they respond poorly to being dumped upon.
- City Zen - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 1:05 pm:
==Since 2002, the state has underfunded our universities by more than $1.4 billion==
Again, they’re ignoring pension contributions. The state is contributing around $2 billion more to SURS than they were back in 2002.
You want a pension or not?
- Mr. Middleground - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 1:18 pm:
I’ve argued before and continue to advocate for MAP converting into a forgivable grant program. If you leave the state after graduation,, you need to pay your MAP grants back. If you stay for 5 years, it is fully forgiven. Why should the taxpayers of Illinois have to pay to educate another states tax base. This would allow for MAP to be significantly expanded to reach and retain more high school graduates.
- Garfield Ridge Guy - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 1:19 pm:
If Illinois universities are a good investment, surely the state could make a great deal of money by offering student loans? If those student loans wouldn’t be profitable to the state, then we cannot tout our schools as worth attending to anyone.
- Our Joe - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 1:32 pm:
Cool Papa is right. Best bet for WIU and EIU may be to move toward specialized (and permanently smaller) campuses with fewer but popular and targeted programs. Both the State and City systems in NY do this. SUNY Purchase is known for arts and media. The Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC is what it sounds like. Other regional SUNY campuses have created focus areas that have stabilized them. Sorry to say, but the truth is this is the only way we’re going to get 18 year olds from the population centers of the state to traipse off to Macomb or Charleston for 2 to 4 years.
- Dupage - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 1:33 pm:
@1:05 ==ignoring pension contributions==
The state saved billions of dollars by NOT paying social security by having their own pension system. Then the state skipped payments for years on their own system (SURS). The state should pay the 5 state pensions first, then pay other things.
- Telly - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 1:37 pm:
An overlooked component of the “brain drain” (Illinois students enrolling in other states’ universities) is not only the fact that Illinois tuition has disproportionately increased, but most public universities in neighboring states have eliminated out-of-state tuition premiums. A generation ago, it cost nearly twice as much to attend an out of state public university. Not anymore. Public universities in Illinois (with the exception of the U of I system) have followed suit and eliminated out-of-state tuition. It hasn’t seemed to help increase enrollment.
- Stanley - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 1:37 pm:
About 93% of student loans are held by the Federal government and they are on the hook for over 1.8 trillion dollars.
The last thing the State of Illinois needs is to get involved in loaning money to anyone.
- GoneFishing - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 1:52 pm:
Unfortunately you still have lots of people saying the state is broke and shouldn’t be paying for things at all. Some of the schools are doing their best but they got way far behind in the years starting from Edgar when all kinds of cuts came in. That was when it all started. Going to be hard to turn the tide without some generous alumni or people who should donate to a University intstead of a politician.
- City Zen - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 2:07 pm:
The funding increases being asked of both higer and lower ed would’ve consumed every penny and themsome of the Fair Tax.
If we had $1.4 billion laying around, I think it’s fair to ask if higher ed deserves it over, say, mental health or social services.
- H-W - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 2:07 pm:
Oh to be asked to testify.
I’ll just say, Cool Papa Bell +1, and I disagree with JS Mill on this education funding issue.
- TNR - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 2:15 pm:
I’m sympathetic to the higher ed funding formula advocates’ call for more state support. It would reduce tuition and boost our struggling campuses.
But again, if you include pension costs, Illinois spends more per student than any other state. Not sure how we can justify another $1.4 billion, particularly with federal Medicaid funding about to be cut.
- JS Mill - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 2:26 pm:
=You certainly are a glass half full guy.=
You certainly are an ignore the truth guy.
- Chambanalyst - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 2:26 pm:
Martine’s math is routinely flawed and overrelies on an assumption that we can just easily pass new taxes to pay for the outlandish proposals outlined in his policies. A poor choice for an “expert” advisor.
- Chambanalyst - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 2:30 pm:
“because they refuse to accept the reality that the other universities (including the others in the U of I system) need more of any new money than UIUC needs.”
More money is not going to save the regionals. More money does not solve the demographic “cliff” crisis that all higher ed institutions face. The reality is that some regionals will have to close - ESPECIALLY if the 4 year degrees @ community college bill passes (Which, the governor seems to favor over the equitable funding bill).
Regionals’ enrollments have been dwindling for some time now. The world is changing, demand for different academic programs and services changes, and they’re simply not keeping up with it.
- thechampaignlife - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 2:42 pm:
===If you don’t consider the state’s contribution to SURS, Illinois appears to be underfunding higher ed compared to other states.===
According to that SHEEO report and their Illinois spotlight at https://shef.sheeo.org/state_spotlight/illinois/, we would still be the fourth highest state in terms of appropriations per FTE if past unfunded pension liabilities are excluded. So, if we are near the top in funding no matter how you look at it, why are our costs are so high? Are there unfunded mandates that we could reduce? Are UIUC’s research and athletics boosting costs?
===Private schools received $272 million in student MAP grants. This should be reconsidered.===
Agreed. We have to prioritize our own institutions first. Eliminate MAP for new students starting in aid year 2027-28 but let current students finish their degree with MAP support.
===MAP converting into a forgivable grant program===
Also agreed.
- City Zen - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 3:24 pm:
==Private schools received $272 million in student MAP grants. This should be reconsidered==
Isn’t the goal of MAP to increase higher ed accessibility for lower income people? If so, how do we do that by eliminating half the school inventory? Because those private schools fill a lot of geographical holes in the state’s higher ed landscape.
- Jacque Pepin’s Left Arm - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 3:34 pm:
Illinois needs a comprehensive statewide education plan, not a divide and conquer funding formula the claims to be equitable but in fact requires no graduation goals.
- thechampaignlife - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 3:48 pm:
===Isn’t the goal of MAP to increase higher ed accessibility for lower income people?===
Community colleges and state universities are much less expensive and have plenty of infrastructure and capacity. Those are where our limited resources should be focused to help the most low income students by investing in our existing resources. Only once they are at capacity should we consider subsidizing private schools.
Plus nearly everywhere a private school exists, so does a public school (see https://hedbergmaps.com/cdn/shop/files/IL9-4-23.jpg). The only ones that do not are in Monmouth, Lincoln, Jacksonville, Carlinville, and Greenville, and they have public schools within a 45 minute drive. So why are we subsidizing high cost private schools? How does that benefit lower income students and make efficient use of tax dollars?
- Anyone Remember - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 3:52 pm:
Would take University Professionals & STG more seriously if they’d worked harder in 2020 on the Tax Proposal on the ballot.
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, Nov 19, 25 @ 5:09 pm:
===So why are we subsidizing high cost private schools?===
We aren’t. We are providing scholarship.aid to low income students, which is then more than matched dollar for dollar by private universities that enroll, support, teach and graduate these students. And they do it as well or better than CCs or the public universities. MAP is like Pell grants and is one of the most successful state access programs in the country. And it keeps students in Illinois.
Seriously, if it costs an extra $300 million to double the number of college graduates, why wouldn’t we allow low income students to attend college wherever they choose in Illinois?