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| CSC President Testifies About Community College Funding Disparities; Full Testimony Available Here |
The president of Carl Sandburg College says it doesn't please him one bit that his institution is essentially forced to charge the highest tuition rate in the state.
Tom Schmidt testified to a hearing held earlier this week in East Peoria hosted by the Illinois Community College Board; he again reminded them that the reason that tuition is 127-dollar per credit hour rate is due, in part, to lack of state aid given to his and the nearly 40-other community colleges in the state, and the board itself hasn't had an increase in its funding since 2002.
Schmidt tells WGIL while his and other community colleges are still able to provide the services to the community that they've come to expect despite funding cuts, what people may not realize is how hard it's become to do that. "What they're not paying attention to is that it is, slowly but surely, squeezing people out of being able to access a quality higher education," Schmidt said. "Carl Sandburg College happens to be a border community college. We happen to be on the outer perimiter of the state. We border Iowa. One of the unique implications to Sandburg is that our tuition has gotten to the point where it's becoming as cost-effective for an Illinois resident to consider going outside the state to get their higher education."
And Schmidt says that's leading potential college students to leave Illinois, and likely never return, and he says the state needs to do everything to stop that.
To read Schmidt's testimony to the Illinois Community College Board, CLICK HERE (PDF document).
(Graphics and testimony courtesy Carl Sandburg College)
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| 09 10 08 by Newsroom |
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