The state budget proposed today by Gov. JB Pritzker would provide a 2.7 percent increase in state-appropriated general operating funds for the University of Illinois System, increasing the system’s general funds appropriation to $730.1 million for the coming fiscal year. The proposal represents a continuation of the vital reinvestment our state and Gov. Pritzker have made in recent years in public higher education.
Gov. Pritzker’s proposed budget would build on the Thriving Illinois 10-year Strategic Plan and other important work by the governor and other state leaders now making the state a national leader in student-centered higher education.
“I am deeply grateful for Gov. Pritzker’s proposed budget and the healthy increase in investment it would provide in our mission to serve the people of Illinois. This is an indicator of his continued confidence in public higher education to provide educational excellence, groundbreaking research, and sustainable economic development for our state,” U of I System President Tim Killeen said. “Funding for public higher education remains one of the best and most important investments that Illinois can make in its future.
“We look forward to working with Gov. Pritzker and our state representatives and senators during the state budget process over the coming weeks to make certain that healthy investment in our universities remains a priority,” Killeen added.
The governor’s budget plan would also add $10 million to Illinois’ Monetary Award Program, the state’s primary source of financial aid for college students. MAP funds available across the state would increase to $721.6 million, representing an increase of almost 80 percent since 2019.
Almost 22,000 U of I System students rely on MAP grants.
“MAP is a vital resource for so many of our students from Illinois and an investment in the prosperous future they will help build,” Killeen said. “Almost four-fifths of our undergraduates come from Illinois, and more than 70 percent of our students choose to stay here when they graduate.”
The U of I System provides $298 million in institutional financial aid to undergraduate students a year. Combined with state and federal aid, this commitment allows more than a third of system undergraduates to pay no tuition or fees. And more than half of all instate undergraduate students enrolled across the system pay less than $3,000 a semester.
As a result, U of I System students consistently graduate with less debt than national averages.
More than half of the Illinois students enrolled in public four-year universities attend one of the three U of I System universities, 97,772 in all. That is 22 percent more students than enrolled a decade ago. The system now graduates more than 27,000 students a year.
President Tim Killeen