Northern Illinois University President says taxes may increase due to budget impasse - Northern Star

Schools such as Chicago State University have been faced with potential closure. Parkland College in Champaign has started making a budget with no state appropriations and will shrink their size to fit their budget, said Paul Stoddard, the NIU Faculty Advisory Council representative to the Illinois Board of Higher Education. NIU has sufficient funds to make it through spring 2017 but has seen two credit ratings drop during the budget impasse, both times NIU’s reliance on the state budget were cited as the main factor. About 5,700 NIU students also saw no appropriations from the Monetary Award Program grants, amounting to $20 million, which NIU originally credited. If there is no state allocation for NIU MAP students, they will have to pay back the credits they accepted because NIU is not in a position to cover those funds, said Alan Phillips, vice president of Administration and Finance, at a Feb. 16 Town Hall meeting. http://northernstar.info/campus/taxes-may-increase-due-to-budget-impasse-baker/article_ea2c5566-fc8f-11e5-810f-93a4a0063e85.htmlNour