State-Related Community Colleges - Paul Fain, Inside Higher Ed

State spending on higher education has improved since the depths of the recession. But competition for public funds is intense in most states, where K-12, Medicaid and pensions are the primary budget drivers. The funding outlook for public colleges is particularly dire in Illinois and Maryland, where incoming Republican governors have promised to roll back taxes in coming months. Potential cuts in Illinois would follow more than a decade of slumping support. Many Illinois community colleges, for example, now get roughly 5 percent of their revenue from the state, with larger portions coming from tuition and local government support. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/12/03/two-year-colleges-illinois-and-other-states-lean-local-government-funding