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Sticker shock is no longer a phenomenon reserved for new car showrooms, at least not to anyone who sends a son or daughter off to college.
According to the Illinois Board of Higher Education, tuition at public universities rose 123 percent over the past 10 years, nearly triple the 42.4 percent rise in the Consumer Price Index. By comparison, tuition rose at community colleges 72 percent and at private colleges and universities in Illinois 104 percent. During that decade, per capita personal income increased about 63 percent, roughly half the pace of public university tuition.
Higher education officials sometimes blame the rise in tuition on lagging state support, but state general funds appropriation rose 56 percent, outpacing the rise in the inflation index between 1985 and 1995.
Even so, higher ed's share of general fund spending has fallen since 1970 — from 18 percent to 11 percent — as demands in areas like public aid, corrections and mental health have grown.
State funding will top $1.8 billion this fiscal year, a 5.5 percent increase over last year, with another $421 million coming from university tuition payers. This is the second straight year higher education has received full funding of its budget recommendations.
Donald Sevener
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