By Joe Ragusa
NORMAL – Illinois is now in its eighth month without a state budget and college students are feeling increased pressure because of a lack of funds for MAP grants.
Heartland Community College student Kyra Ester has a lot on her plate – she’s a single mother of four, a full-time college student, the student body president at Heartland and she works on campus – but her hours have been cut due to the state budget impasse and her MAP grant has not been funded.
“There’s some days where I feel like the only other option is to find work somewhere else because what I’m getting isn’t enough to cover my basic needs,” Ester said.
Heartland Community College credited students for the MAP grants in the fall semester at a cost of about $200,000, but the college won’t be doing the same this semester. College president Rob Widmer said Heartland is cutting back as much as it can.
“We’re holding positions open. We’re not filling positions. We’re trying to do everything we can to maintain the quality of the instruction, the ability of students not to see the effects of not having received our state funding at this point,” Widmer said. “But the longer it goes on, the more challenging it becomes.”
Other universities have taken more drastic steps to deal with the lack of funding from the state. Eastern Illinois is laying off 200 workers while Western Illinois is planning 34 layoffs. Chicago State University trustees have said the college will run out of money next month.
Illinois State University is covering MAP grants for about 3,900 students this semester, but ISU student trustee Connor Joyce said the uncertainty surrounding MAP grant funding is a distraction.
“This is the purpose of MAP (grants). It’s that so students can focus on their academics, purely on learning, and not about other work and other things outside of their academics,” Joyce said.
The Democratic-controlled legislature and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner are still far apart on their proposals for higher education funding.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at joe.ragusa@cumulus.com.
