Legislators hear need for more funding for Illinois college, university upkeep | Illinois

(The Center Square) – Illinois universities and colleges told members of the Illinois House they need more tax dollars for facility upkeep. 

The Illinois House Appropriations-Higher Education Committee met in Chicago Monday to hear from a variety of college and university officials about the need for more state tax dollars for facility upkeep. Corey Bradford, vice president of Administration and Finance with Governors State University, said facility upkeep is paramount. 

“Will we allow our educational infrastructure to crumble or will we seize this moment to build a first class campus infrastructure,” Bradford told the committee. “The time for action is now. The cost of delay is too high. Let’s not just repair buildings but let’s rebuild a future for the education in Illinois.” 

Some university officials said they look to control their own contracts, rather than have it facilitated by the Capital Development Board. CDB Executive Director T.J. Edwards said they’re concerned about ensuring equitable funding. 

“The only concern I have is how do we duplicate that across multiple universities,” Edwards said. “How do we ensure that multiple universities that may have individual strategies for their delivery of projects are all going to be compliant, are all going to use Illinois Works … that they’re all going to make sure the accessibility standards are being followed.”

Edwards noted that of the “significant amount of funding” CDB was appropriated, there are approximately 664 projects totaling $7 billion across the state. Of those, Edwards said 170 projects are specially dedicated to colleges and universities, representing a taxpayer cost of $3 billion. 

More hearings about the issue are expected. 

During Monday’s hearing, state Rep. Dave Vella, D-Loves Park, asked about the decline of college enrollment for a place like Chicago State University. 

“Are they going into the trades? Are they going into a job? Are they not wanting to not go into debt,” Vella asked. “Or, also, less kids are being born, or are they leaving the state of Illinois?”

CSU President Z Scott acknowledged the decline in student enrollment of some students. 

“The biggest competitor for Chicago State is nowhere. Students are not attending college,” Scott said. “This state has seen a 37% decline in Black student enrollment in our colleges in the last 10 years. That is a crisis for this state if we are concerned about workforce and diversity in our workforce.”

First-time full-time freshman enrollment for CSU dropped 1.3% in the 2023-24 school year. Governors State University dropped 14.2% in that same time. Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville saw a 13.5% decline, Western Illinois University saw a 10.5% decline, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Overall, enrollment for undergraduate schools across the state in the fall of 2023 was up slightly by 0.3%, something the IBHE  said reverses several consecutive years of decreases.