With in-state tuition and fees in Illinois ranked ninth most expensive in the country and second highest in the Midwest, lawmakers in Springfield are pushing changes supporters say make for a more sensible system.
House Bill 5037 calls for a study of the state’s higher education system, followed by a 10-year plan to make it more competitive and affordable. With the state now providing nearly $25,000 per student at four-year public universities, Republican state Rep. Martin McLaughlin says change is clearly needed.
As in-state tuition costs at all the state’s public universities have risen by about $6,000 a year from 2009, overall enrollment at those institutions has dipped by roughly 13,000.
Illinois Policy Institute Senior Fellow and former state Rep. Mark Batinick fears HB 5037 opens the door to more of the same.
Batinick says the plan locks in the state’s funding formula of giving universities losing the largest share of students the biggest per-pupil funding increases and gifting schools with the lowest graduation rates the most funding.
The bill now sits in the House Rules committee.
Story from Illinois Radio Network
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