Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Falling public university enrollment shows effects of state budget impasse - Dawn Rhodes, Chicago Tribune
Enrollment at many of Illinois' state public universities dropped this year, particularly among new freshmen wrestling with where to commit for their college educations, data released this month show. Many university leaders have pointed to the unprecedented budget battles in Springfield, which starved public universities of state funding, as a critical factor in the declines. Illinois had operated without a budget since July 2015 until the Democratic-controlled General Assembly overrode Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto of a spending plan and tax increase on July 6. But by then, many students had already decided where to attend college. And for many, it wasn't in the state university system. "I don't think there's any question there's a connection," said Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities in Washington, D.C. "The state funding situation was in the papers every day for months and months. It goes to public confidence in the institutions."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-state-university-enrollment-drops-met-20170912-story.html