Higher Education

Monetary Award Program (MAP) Grants Published May 19, 2016

The Monetary Award Program (MAP) provides grants to Illinois students requiring financial assistance to attend higher education institutions in the state. These MAP grants can be used for tuition and mandatory fees at approved public and private two-year and four-year colleges and universities (as well as some other degree-granting institutions). Through this 50-year old program, over 125,000 students throughout the state are awarded MAP grants each year (2).

FY 2015 MAP Grant Recipients by County (1)
1 dot = 1 grant recipient

FY 2015 MAP Grant Funds Awarded by County (1)

In FY 2015, 128,000 students were awarded MAP grants, while 160,000 students were denied grants due to lack of funding. With demand for MAP funds already outstripping availability, MAP recipients faced uncertainty in FY 2016, since no funds were provided for the program during the budget impasse. Many higher education institutions absorbed the lost tuition costs during the fall semester, but have not been able sustain this practice as the impasse continues - in some cases requiring students to pay for tuition for the semester already completed (2).

The instability of the MAP program particularly impacts first-generation students and students from underrepresented populations (3).

In May 2016, the Illinois General Assembly and Governor Rauner approved a bill to partially reimburse higher education institutions for MAP funds, but the released funds only cover a small portion of the program costs. MAP grant recipients for the 2016-2017 academic year are not yet guaranteed funding (4).

Sources: (1) Reboot Illiniois (2) MAP Matters (3) The Chicago Reporter (4) Illinois Student Assistance Fact Sheet

Public University Cuts Updated June 3, 2016

The budget impasse has forced public universities to operate without state funds, which comprise up to one-third of universities' budgets. In late April 2016, a stop-gap measure was passed to provide $600 million to struggling institutions, like Chicago State University, which was facing closure. These stop-gap funds only provide a small portion of the state funding higher education institutions anticipated before the impasse (1). Selected impacts of the impasse on these institutions are listed below.

Illinois State University

90 faculty positions have gone unfilled (6)
Construction and maintenance projects have been halted (6)

University of Illinois

Lay-offs will take place if budget impasse is not resolved by the Fall 2016 semester (7)

Southern Illinois University

180 faculty members and staffers will be laid off if Governor Rauner’s proposed 20% cut to public higher education takes place in FY 2016 (4).
If the cuts take place, the School of Medicine will lose 481 positions, not including student jobs and graduate assistantships (4).

Northeastern Illinois University

Laid off 65 non-instructional staff members (2)
Credit rating down-graded (3)

Northern Illinois University

116 open positions have gone unfilled (1)
Credit rating down-graded (3)

Chicago State University

300 employees laid off in April 2016, one-third of the school's workforce (2)
Spring semester ended two weeks early to guarantee students could graduate before the University ran out of funds (2)

Governors State University

Absorbed $27 million for unrecovered state funds and MAP grants (5)

Western Illinois University

147 employees have been laid off, including 30 faculty members (1)
500 employees are taking furlough days and receiving pay cuts (1)

Eastern Illinois University

Credit rating down-graded (3)
177 employees laid off (8)

Sources: (1) SB 2059, Illinois Board of Higher Education (2) Northwest Herald (3) Washington Post (4) The Southern Illinoisan (5) Governors State University (6) HOI19 (7) Chicago Tribune (8) WTHITV

Community Colleges Published June 15, 2016

Like public universities, community colleges, which enroll over 650,000 students, have struggled during the budget impasse, despite a stop-gap funding bill passed in April (1). Throughout the state, they have cut travel allowances and left vacant positions unfilled. Many have laid off staff and raised tuition as a result of the impasse. Moodys has downgraded many community colleges' credit ratings. Many have not been able to absorb the loss of MAP grant tuition, requiring MAP grant recipients to pay (2).

Selected impacts on community colleges (2)

Sources: (1) Illinois Community College Board FY 2016 Grants, Illinois Community College Board 2015 Data Book (2) Various Sources (follow link)