Return those flight tickets for your vacation to Cancun. Spring break has been cancelled for Chicago State University due to budget constraints.
Like many other state universities, CSU gets a percentage of its income from state funding, allowing them to keep tuition lower than many private institutions.
However, after an eight-month stalemate in the Illinois government, 12 public universities are still waiting for state funding.
The impasse is due to a budgetary disagreement between the Republican governor and the democratic general assembly, according to a Washington Post article.
We believe this political blockade is a direct insult to students throughout Illinois.
In addition to changing their academic calendar, CSU is projected to run out of money to pay faculty by March 1, according to a Chicago Tribune article. But this south Chicago university isn’t the only university struggling to make up for a deficit.
Thirty faculty members were laid off at Western Illinois University. Kishawaukee Community College has put a hold on hiring new faculty, and the existing staff was asked not to travel, a CNN Money article reports.
Not every school is suffering the same fate. The flagship University of Illinois is just starting to feel the strain of eight months without funding. With a strong alumni base and a $2.4 billion endownment, the university has more time to find funding.
If a situation like this were to happen in Indiana, IU-Bloomington would likely fare similarly to University of Illinois. With a $1.97 billion endowment, the campus would have time to adjust scheduling and faculty pay schedules to keep the University afloat.
Although IU is a state university, student fees make up 79.8 percent of the 2015-2016 operating budget according to the IU budget release of the same year. Of the $532 million in state funding, IUB gets the lion’s share with $206 million.
If any of the IU campuses were to lose funding, the administration would likely have to raise tuition in an attempt to keep the schools open.
In Illinois, it may be too late for tuition hikes to make a difference. Many state schools, such as Western Illinois, have had a 25-percent drop in enrollment since 2006. Raising tuition would likely push college out of an affordable range for many of the remaining students.
The foundation of a state college is to subsidize education for state residents. This allows the population to stay educated and be a part of the working economy.
State colleges will not be any different from private institutions if their tuition puts them out of range for an average family.
