![\"University](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/533\/2017\/06\/800px-MainLibrary_Urbana_Illinois_4582.jpg\")
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Here\u2019s a post that I started writing back in April. \u00a0You see, back at the time,\u00a0the Chicago Tribune had a stunning graph in its lead Sunday editorial, \u201cGovernor, start fixing higher ed in Illinois: How to pour more spending into classrooms and labs<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s generally known that Chicago State, due to massive mismanagement, has had stunning drops in enrollment. \u00a0But a 40% drop at Eastern Illinois? \u00a0a 25% at Northern, and nearly as much at SIU-Carbondale and Western? \u00a0Holy moly!<\/p>\n Here\u2019s another chart from the fall that breaks down freshmen enrollment changes<\/a> in 2016.<\/p>\n This was not a surprise \u2014 and even my own son says, \u201cMom, I don\u2019t want to go to a state school in Illinois for college because I\u2019m afraid that, with the budget battle, they\u2019ll cut off funding.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time, the total enrollment of all students in Illinois (including community colleges and private colleges) has been stable from 2005 to 2015, according to the state<\/a>, but I was unable to find information on the change in numbers of college-aged students during that time \u2014 that is, to find out how many students went out of state, vs. out-of-state students coming into Illinois.<\/p>\n Another article reports<\/a> that at Northern Illinois University, enrollment peaked in 2006, well before the current budget crisis.<\/p>\n And apparently Southern Illinois has had 20+ years of declining enrollment (the article is undated<\/a>, but refers to a bomb threat indictment<\/a> that occurred in the fall of 2014 at the latest, that is, before Rauner was elected and the current budget battle began.)<\/p>\n And, a day after this Tribune editorial, the reports came out that New York had established free tuition in the SUNY system for everyone in families with household income less than $100,000 (increasing to $125,000). \u00a0(See this UPI report<\/a>, for instance.)<\/p>\n My first reaction was that this was nuts: \u00a0it would result in all sorts of unintended effects. \u00a0Schools could feel more comfortable boosting tuition with the rationale that only wealthy students are paying. \u00a0Families at the margin (since there didn\u2019t seem to be any phase out) would get hammered for earning $126,000. \u00a0And the requirement that students must stay in state after graduation seemed unnecessarily punitive; New York is hardly hurting for talent, but students entering professions centered elsewhere would lose out. \u00a0 And the program could easily induce more students to (want to) stay in-state or attend a public school, either causing significant enrollment increases,\u00a0limiting the number of out of state students accepted, or leading to disgruntled students unable to gain admission as each tier of college becomes more selective than previously. \u00a0And if enrollment climbs, or if out of state students decrease, that impacts the budget.<\/p>\n But in looking at the system in New York, I was surprised to learn that (a) the tuition was already fairly low ($6k-ish) for in-state students, and that (b) the entire system is managed centrally, with the legislature controlling not just state spending but also tuition. \u00a0And, in fact, that was the central recommendation in the above Tribune editorial:<\/p>\n Governor, don\u2019t waste this crisis. Create a master plan to replace Illinois\u2019 balkanized structure of higher ed. There\u2019s a strong model across the border: Wisconsin\u2019s single, centrally-overseen and multitiered system of 26 campuses offering 250 majors. New York and some other states have comparable systems. Illinois students, too, could prosper under a system that deploys resources effectively and sets high expectations for campuses statewide. Unifying schools, of course, would anger politicians who defend fiefdoms in Carbondale or Charleston or Chicago.<\/p>\n Illinois once had a more centralized system that delivered excellent results for students. But in 1995, the General Assembly dismantled what was known as the \u201csystem of systems.\u201d One reason: more \u201clocal control.\u201d Of state universities? A bigger reason: Some pols were miffed that their alma maters didn\u2019t have separate governing boards like the U. of I.\u2019s. . . .<\/p>\n But the higher ed cash trough is dry. Southern Illinois University President Randy Dunn warned lawmakers last month that \u201cAs we go into this next phase of the crisis, with no budget in sight, SIU and many other universities are going to be forced to dismantle and remove units of university operations. If we don\u2019t find a way forward, we have a lot of universities getting ready to walk off the cliff.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And, indeed, if you look at the enrollment trends in the first table, there\u2019s wasted money there \u2014 it costs money to maintain buildings, regardless of whether they\u2019re used at capacity. \u00a0It cost money to add capacity to growing universities, money that\u2019s wasted if those students could be attending other universities.<\/p>\n Now, as I said, this was two months ago. \u00a0And the budgetary crisis has gotten worse, not better \u2014 Illinois is facing junk bond status<\/a>, and, in doing that google search, I learned that Illinois regional universities have been at junk bond status since April<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s appalling. \u00a0And, yes, while we stay, and watch our taxes go up over and over again, we certainly expect our kids to leave.<\/p>\n *H-E-double-hockeysticks, of course.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Image: \u00a0University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Main Library. https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3AMainLibrary_Urbana_Illinois_4582.jpg; By Dori (Own work) [GFDL (http:\/\/www.gnu.org\/copyleft\/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 us (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/us\/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here\u2019s a post that I started writing back in April. \u00a0You see, back at the time,\u00a0the Chicago Tribune had a stunning graph in its lead Sunday editorial, \u201cGovernor, start fixing higher ed in Illinois: How to pour more spending into classrooms and labs.\u201d It\u2019s generally known that Chicago State, due to massive mismanagement, has had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":6722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11,100],"class_list":["post-6396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-illinois","tag-universities"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"enrollment](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/533\/2017\/06\/enrollment-changes.jpg\")
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