Illinois Budget Battle Jeopardizes College Access and Affordability - Antoinette Flores, American Progress

The future of public higher education is on shaky footing in Illinois. As a budget impasse that froze all state funding to higher education enters its ninth month, public colleges have sent layoff notices to hundreds of employees and received substantial credit downgrades from Moody’s Investors Service. One institution even went so far as to cancel its spring break so that it could end the school year before it ran out of money. If left unresolved, this budget battle will be the final nail in the coffin of affordable public higher education in a state that has been undermining its public colleges for years. It is also proof yet again that states should not be left to their own devices when it comes to higher education funding. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/higher-education/news/2016/03/17/133638/illinois-budget-battle-jeopardizes-college-access-and-affordability/