A news analysis of where the University stands
Mary Tallon
News editor
Some teachers are going without pay this semester so fewer courses are cut and fewer students might have to attend additional semesters to complete general education requirements. Around-the-clock computer lab hours and other services that attracted some students to come to Champaign-Urbana initially have also been axed to make up for money the University couldn't find in its budget.
Meanwhile, University tuition was increased by 5 percent over the summer and another increase is expected to go before the Board of Trustees in November.
So what is going on here?
Higher education funding at the University — just like most institutions nationwide — is in crisis.
And despite media reports that college costs are exploding, Randy Kangas, assistant University vice president of planning and budgeting says, "Nothing's exploding."
"Public universities are very much dependent on state appropriations, but they're becoming less so all the time," Kangas said. "In 1980, about 45 percent of our budget was from a direct state appropriation; this year it will be under 25 percent. There are some institutions around the country — public universities — who are getting down there to almost nothing."
Kangas said the administrative costs of higher education haven't really changed that dramatically recent years.
"What we have really done is shifted that burden onto students and their families," he said.
There aren't many signs of that trend changing anytime soon, either.
Provost Richard Herman said in a July interview that the University has put in a budget request for next year seeking a 7 to 8 percent increase in state funding. He then laughed and called the request "a nice thought" considering the $5 billion budget deficit the state is facing.
"We are going to likely continue to ask students and their families to bear a larger share of the cost of education," Herman said.
Still, students on this campus have not seen their pocketbooks burdened as much as some have elsewhere.
Students at the University of Arizona face a 38.6 percent increase in tuition this semester, while those attending schools in the University of California system are seeing an almost 30 percent jump. New students at other Big Ten schools are also having to pay more with Indiana and Ohio State Universities making students pay 22.6 and14.3 percent more in tuition this semester, respectively.
Within the state, students at Eastern Illinois face a 9.5 percent increase, students at Illinois State see an almost 10 percent increase and new students at Western Illinois are paying 13 percent more in tuition this semester.
Given the $27.9 million less in state funding the Urbana campus is seeing this year and the tuition hike below most peer institutions, there is some uncertainty as to whether the University's smaller tuition increase will be enough to ensure students are getting the quality of education they expected when enrolling.
"There is no question that we had hoped to be able increase (tuition) in a fashion comparable with the rest of the Big Ten," said Chancellor Nancy Cantor. "Part of this is that we have some very significant concerns about keeping the quality of course offering available. There are really pressures on the institution to ... not only maintain excellence but actually even grow in excellence — and even in a hard budget times it's important to do that. Students want quality."
Cantor said the University is working hardest in these tight budget times to ensure course offerings are in place to allow that students graduate on time.
"It's not a simple question of directing all money directly into the classroom," she said. "It's also very important that the atmosphere of support for student education remains very strong ... As we look into the coming months we will be arguing as forcefully as we can for our need to have the resources to maintain the quality that Illinois expects for us."
One man confident that the quality of the University will not be hurt by the hits it took in state funding is Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
"We're always concerned about those (educational quality) issues, that's why we've worked with the University to agree upon these reductions," Blagojevich said after signing the "Truth in Tuition" bill in July.
"They've made it clear that they believe they can do more with less," he said. "They can remove administrative wastes and not impact the quality of education with students or impair the University to go out and recruit faculty of the highest level so that the reputation of this school continues to grow."
Whether that's the case remains to be seen and will be watched by many students and faculty over the next semester. When the General Assembly meets again this fall it will again need to weigh the importance of higher education funding against those of health care and other public services, University officials say.
"I think the state has more real needs than it has real funds to pay for all those needs," Kangas said. "They are making very difficult budget decisions with very narrow degrees of freedom."
Cantor said everyone in the state is working hard to make do with what they have in this economic crisis.
"I just want to make sure that people's attention is focused on how important higher education is to every aspect of the development of the state, and to the future of its citizens," she said.
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