Dive Brief:
- The Chicago Sun-Times editorial board is calling for a long-term plan for higher education investment, chastising lawmakers for using this spending as a safety valve to balance the full budget.
- Illinois has seen rising tuition costs because of state disinvestment in higher education, causing more students to leave the state to pursue their degrees, hurting the economy overall, the Sun-Times editorial board argues.
- The state government still has not agreed on a 2015-16 budget, forcing colleges and universities to cover delayed payments and consider cuts, but the Sun-Times is urging the state to look beyond a one-year patch to a longer-term commitment to higher education.
Dive Insight:
Illinois is not the only state government that has looked to higher education to absorb cuts required for a balanced budget. Unlike spending on public safety, for example, education generally is not protected by law. Draconian cuts suggested for Louisiana's budget first aimed at higher education, but these were ultimately avoided with tax increases and eliminated credits. Higher education, especially, is an easy scapegoat as fewer taxpayers go to state colleges or send their children there. In Illinois, where first-term Gov. Bruce Rauner is suggesting significant cuts to higher education, he has already guaranteed increased spending on early childhood and K-12.