•October 9, 2019•
By Jim Nowlan
NP guest columnist

Illinois higher education is in disarray as a result of an exodus of students from our state, uncertain state funding, declining high school graduation numbers, excess capacity, and the seeming implosion of several state universities.
Background. Three-quarters of a million of our citizens enroll each year at the state’s 12 public university campuses, 48 community college districts (with many campuses) and 110 private non-profit and for-profit institutions of post-secondary learning. In addition, our major research universities such at the University of Illinois in Urbana and Chicago pump out top engineers and scientists, who generate patents and startups. Strong higher education is critical to our state’s future.
In 2000, a national group that knows about such things declared Illinois to have the best higher education offerings among the states for quality and affordability. No longer.
Because of reduced state spending for higher ed in recent years, Illinois’ public universities and colleges jacked up their tuition, making our in-state student costs among the highest in the nation.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.