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Neckerchief
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Timothy L. Killeen: Illinois needs to invest in higher education
Presidents from all public universities in Illinois are requesting additional funding from the state to reverse declining enrollment. But, how do Illinois current expenditures compare with other states?

According to data from www.collegeboard.org, Illinois spends more per FTE (Full Time Equivalent) than 47 other states. And not just a little more – Illinois spends over 102% MORE per FTE than the average state.

In 2016/2017 (the latest available information), Illinois spent $15,470 per FTE, while the average state spent $7,640.

Even worse is the change in funding over the past decade. The average state DECREASED funding for higher education by 8% over the past 10 years. Illinois INCREASED spending by an amazing 56% during that time. More than ANY other state. No other state even comes close (except North Dakota, which in the middle of an oil boom).

Bottom line: If increasing spending on higher education would solve Illinois problems, we would already be seeing positive results. We’re not.
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Western_101
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Neckerchief wrote: Mon May 13, 2019 5:28 pm
Timothy L. Killeen: Illinois needs to invest in higher education
Presidents from all public universities in Illinois are requesting additional funding from the state to reverse declining enrollment. But, how do Illinois current expenditures compare with other states?

According to data from www.collegeboard.org, Illinois spends more per FTE (Full Time Equivalent) than 47 other states. And not just a little more – Illinois spends over 102% MORE per FTE than the average state.

In 2016/2017 (the latest available information), Illinois spent $15,470 per FTE, while the average state spent $7,640.

Even worse is the change in funding over the past decade. The average state DECREASED funding for higher education by 8% over the past 10 years. Illinois INCREASED spending by an amazing 56% during that time. More than ANY other state. No other state even comes close (except North Dakota, which in the middle of an oil boom).

Bottom line: If increasing spending on higher education would solve Illinois problems, we would already be seeing positive results. We’re not.
Neckerchief, that is an imposing an ominous outlook for Illinois higher education. What is it about Illinois Universities (not named U of I) that in past decades seemed to fit the bill or hit the mark? Is Illinois all of a sudden out of step and "uncool" and frankly not very desirable apparently. Seriously, what changed? When did it happen? Could this have been predicted?
vatusay
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Neckerchief wrote: Mon May 13, 2019 5:28 pm
Timothy L. Killeen: Illinois needs to invest in higher education
Presidents from all public universities in Illinois are requesting additional funding from the state to reverse declining enrollment. But, how do Illinois current expenditures compare with other states?

According to data from www.collegeboard.org, Illinois spends more per FTE (Full Time Equivalent) than 47 other states. And not just a little more – Illinois spends over 102% MORE per FTE than the average state.

In 2016/2017 (the latest available information), Illinois spent $15,470 per FTE, while the average state spent $7,640.

Even worse is the change in funding over the past decade. The average state DECREASED funding for higher education by 8% over the past 10 years. Illinois INCREASED spending by an amazing 56% during that time. More than ANY other state. No other state even comes close (except North Dakota, which in the middle of an oil boom).

Bottom line: If increasing spending on higher education would solve Illinois problems, we would already be seeing positive results. We’re not.
This deserves a “yikes”.
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ST_Lawson
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Neckerchief wrote: Mon May 13, 2019 5:28 pm Even worse is the change in funding over the past decade. The average state DECREASED funding for higher education by 8% over the past 10 years. Illinois INCREASED spending by an amazing 56% during that time. More than ANY other state. No other state even comes close (except North Dakota, which in the middle of an oil boom).

Bottom line: If increasing spending on higher education would solve Illinois problems, we would already be seeing positive results. We’re not.
I'd like to know where you're finding that data. Every place that I've looked shows a decrease in funding for higher ed in Illinois.
48% funding cut since 2000
Also, the amount that WIU has received from the state has gone down from $59.93 million in FY2010 to $47.237 million in FY2019.
Here's the data since 2010 (from the Illinois Budget website):
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sealhall74
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I think here is the source in question.

https://trends.collegeboard.org/college ... te-2016-17

If enrollments are dropping big, the chart does make some sense.
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ST_Lawson
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Ok, that makes sense then. The note on that site says about Illinois "where much of the funding went to under-funded pensions".
It's not actually going to the universities themselves, but towards pensions for retired university employees. Without an amendment to the state constitution, that is legally required to be paid at this point.
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sealhall74
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ST_Lawson wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 11:03 am Ok, that makes sense then. The note on that site says about Illinois "where much of the funding went to under-funded pensions".
It's not actually going to the universities themselves, but towards pensions for retired university employees. Without an amendment to the state constitution, that is legally required to be paid at this point.
50 years from now, all of those vastly overcompensated pension earners will be long gone so the problem will fix itself.
Not their fault, but it would be interesting to look back in history and see exactly who pushed for it, who fell for it, and whether any of them are rolling over in their graves right now.
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ST_Lawson
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sealhall74 wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 2:36 pm
ST_Lawson wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 11:03 am Ok, that makes sense then. The note on that site says about Illinois "where much of the funding went to under-funded pensions".
It's not actually going to the universities themselves, but towards pensions for retired university employees. Without an amendment to the state constitution, that is legally required to be paid at this point.
50 years from now, all of those vastly overcompensated pension earners will be long gone so the problem will fix itself.
Not their fault, but it would be interesting to look back in history and see exactly who pushed for it, who fell for it, and whether any of them are rolling over in their graves right now.
Some might be "vastly overcompensated", but I'd bet those numbers are pretty minuscule compared to the majority of pension earners. I think the biggest issue was the state agreeing to rules about funding and then not sticking to them...not putting in their fair share of the money for decades.

If they could though, it'd be great if they could add in a cap on pension earnings though...maybe $100k per year...so that nobody gets more than that, regardless of how much more than that they were paid when they were working. If you were making enough to legitimately earn a pension of over $100k a year, then you were probably making enough to be saving some of that on your own. I know that my wife and I don't make that much (combined) and we're putting away enough that we could probably survive on what we're saving ourselves (although hopefully we'll still get some portion of our state pensions when we retire). I know they can't add that cap in for existing pension earners, but going down the road, that'd be ok.
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sealhall74
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ST_Lawson wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 3:26 pm
sealhall74 wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 2:36 pm
ST_Lawson wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 11:03 am Ok, that makes sense then. The note on that site says about Illinois "where much of the funding went to under-funded pensions".
It's not actually going to the universities themselves, but towards pensions for retired university employees. Without an amendment to the state constitution, that is legally required to be paid at this point.
50 years from now, all of those vastly overcompensated pension earners will be long gone so the problem will fix itself.
Not their fault, but it would be interesting to look back in history and see exactly who pushed for it, who fell for it, and whether any of them are rolling over in their graves right now.
Some might be "vastly overcompensated", but I'd bet those numbers are pretty minuscule compared to the majority of pension earners. I think the biggest issue was the state agreeing to rules about funding and then not sticking to them...not putting in their fair share of the money for decades.

If they could though, it'd be great if they could add in a cap on pension earnings though...maybe $100k per year...so that nobody gets more than that, regardless of how much more than that they were paid when they were working. If you were making enough to legitimately earn a pension of over $100k a year, then you were probably making enough to be saving some of that on your own. I know that my wife and I don't make that much (combined) and we're putting away enough that we could probably survive on what we're saving ourselves (although hopefully we'll still get some portion of our state pensions when we retire). I know they can't add that cap in for existing pension earners, but going down the road, that'd be ok.
Yep, a guaranteed 3% pension raise every year is not sustainable without some sort of cap in place.
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wiu712
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Macomb off-campus student housing company files bankruptcy.
From tonight's WGEM News:
https://wgem.com/2019/05/14/macomb-off- ... ankruptcy/
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