College Budgets Tight Over Summertime - WBGZ Radio

Many Illinois colleges and universities are looking at a worrisome summer without a state budget. They will have to “float” between the end of the state's budget year June 30 and when students return to campus in August. Jim Applegate, executive director of the Illinois State Board of Higher Education, said for many it could be tight until tuition checks start arriving in late August. “That is the stress point,” Applegate said. “Obviously when tuition dollars start to flow in, that gives a little more flexibility. But none of these institutions was built to operate solely on tuition dollars.” Applegate estimates tuition dollars pay for between 30 percent and just under 50 percent of school operations, depending on the institution. Illinois State University spokesman Jay Groves said schools are in a delicate balancing act. http://altondailynews.com/news/details.cfm?clientid=17&id=216583#.V2wq2_krJpg