Batinick: Enrollment falls across Illinois universities, but prices keep climbing
Illinois’ university system is losing students to other states as prices per student top the nation. The system and its funding need an overhaul, but state leaders instead are considering letting community colleges create even more competition.
Illinois is facing a serious and worsening higher education crisis: a long-term overcapacity problem.
According to school-provided data, overall public university enrollment in Illinois has dropped dramatically, falling from 368,000 students in 2009 to just 278,000 in 2023. While the flagship University of Illinois-Urbana has seen continuous growth in student population, a dozen or so other universities are declining. But the money to them hasn’t slowed.
State appropriations for higher education are based on historical precedent, not on enrollment or performance. Each university receives the same percentage increase year after year, regardless of how many students they serve.
Current estimates of direct state appropriations per student are:
- Illinois State University: $3,703 per pupil
- Western Illinois University: $8,686 per pupil
- Eastern Illinois University: $5,523 per pupil
- Northern Illinois University: $6,529 per pupil
- Southern Illinois University: $9,905 per pupil
- Chicago State University: $15,537 per pupil
Altogether, when considering grants, insurance and contributions to the State Universities Retirement System, Illinois ranks No. 1 in the nation in per-student higher education spending. Yet our outcomes don’t reflect that investment.
If Illinois had simply funded a growing school such as Illinois State at an average level based on enrollment, it might have grown into a flagship institution such as Michigan State or Kansas State. Instead, it is shortchanged while shrinking institutions receive more funding per student.
This trend will worsen. The U.S. saw a birth rate drop in 2009, signaling a waning pool of future applicants. Plus, a growing number of young people are opting out of four-year degrees all together.
Yet, the state shows no sign of slowing spending. Most recently, Senate Bill 1988 would allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees, which will only intensify the competition for an already shrinking pool of students. Instead of “right-sizing” through specialization, consolidation, or even rational investment, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is pushing to expand a system that desperately needs to be restructured. If Illinois’ smaller universities are struggling now, what happens when even more in-state competition springs up?
When students can’t get into their top choice, such as the University of Illinois, many leave the state instead of settling for a shrinking regional university. The system is not aligned with the needs of today’s students or the state’s future. The result is more subsidies for struggling institutions, fewer attractive choices for students and higher costs for taxpayers.
Illinois must change gears and take a strategic, statewide approach that considers enrollment first. Until state leaders have an honest conversation about what Illinois higher education should look like 10, 20, or 30 years from now, students – and Illinois – will continue to lose.