Few state universities these days can afford to turn down additional tuition dollars, but the University of Illinois system is planning to do just that. Last week Timothy L. Killeen, president of the system, proposed extending for another year an in-state tuition freeze that has been in effect for the three-campus system since the fall of 2014.
In a written statement, Mr. Killeen said that the freeze was intended to "help keep doors of opportunity open for Illinois students and hold down costs to keep them here at home to study." The latter half of that equation may be especially important after a prolonged state-budget standoff contributed to an enrollment drop that persisted last fall at many of the state’s public colleges and universities.
The impasse over spending between Bruce V. Rauner, Illinois’s Republican governor, and the Democratic-controlled legislature stifled state institutions for two years before it ended last summer. The budget deadlock led to layoffs, furloughs, and other emergency measures across the state’s public colleges and universities.
Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: https://www.chronicle.com/article/universities-in-illinois/242176