Affordability is one of the biggest barriers to higher education access and success, especially for low-income students, students of color, working adults, rural students, and many others who are underserved by the higher education system.
For years, Illinois has dramatically underfunded its higher education system. As state appropriations for institutions have declined, tuition has increased, creating an increasingly untenable financial burden on individuals. As student and workforce needs have changed, the state funding system simply has not kept up.
To date, funding for higher education in Illinois has not been connected to state’s goals for student success and the system of public and private institutions that supports them. For decades, public universities have been funded through an “across-the-board” approach, where all institutions receive the same percentage decrease or increase of funding from the prior year. While community colleges receive state funding by formula, it has been underfunded for years.
Neither approach acknowledges the changing needs of our students and our economy nor accounts for the socio-economic status of students, their family circumstances, or financial capacity to pay tuition. Furthermore, both university and community college funding approaches have exacerbated inequities and have lead to an increase in the amount of debt students and families take on.
Illinois has a strong state-funded need-based grant program, the Monetary Award Program (MAP), providing support for low-income students who apply via the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid.
However, over time, the state appropriation for MAP has not kept up with rising tuition and fees, creating a gap in purchasing power. In Fiscal Year 2002, MAP covered 100% of average tuition and fees at Illinois public universities and community colleges. However, by Fiscal Year 2020, MAP awards dropped to 34% of average tuition and fees at universities and 36% community colleges, even after an additional $86M infusion to MAP between Fiscal Year 2018 and Fiscal Year 2020.
Because MAP is awarded to eligible students on a first-come, first-served basis, students who complete their FAFSA later in the year are at risk of missing out on a grant. In Fiscal Year 2020, funds were insufficient to grant MAP awards to an estimated 53,000 eligible students, most of whom were potential community college students.16
Even with federal and state financial aid, many low-income students are unable to afford college. In Fiscal Year 2020, the estimated total cost of attendance (tuition and fees plus living expenses) for an in-state student at a four-year public university in Illinois was just under $30,000.
As a result of the high costs and a lack of good information about college costs and student financial aid,17 many students turn to additional expensive private loans to fill the financial gaps between available financial aid and college costs.
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16
It is estimated that this number will be less than 23,000 when FY21 ends because fewer low-income
students are completing the FAFSA. Late-applying students are more likely to be independent, have limited
resources for college, and plan to go to a community college compared to students who receive a grant.
17 The report of the Chicago State University Equity Working Group for Black Student Access and
Success
Action Plan
calls for reaching students, parents, and families to expand their financial aid awareness;
requiring comprehensive, evidence-based and culturally-relevant financial literacy education for every student to
prepare them for post-high school success; and building trust surrounding financial aid and FAFSA applications.
Recent legislation and federal changes will also simplify the FAFSA process and increase transparency beginning
in 2023, but without deliberate strategies to increase student and family financial literacy, students and families
still may not be able to access and use all the public resources available to them.