Dive Brief:
- Illinois' Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and its Democratically controlled legislature have not come to agreement over the states 2015-16 budget, making the future of Chicago State University an open question.
- The Huffington Post reports Chicago State, a majority-black university on the city's south side, has committed to remaining open through the end of the spring semester even though it will run out of money in March, but President Thomas Calhoun Jr. has already warned staff and students the financial situation "may lead to a massive disruption of services."
- The Rauner administration criticized a request from CSU for financial help, calling out its mismanaged finances for being rife with waste and cronyism. Calhoun, who just took over from embattled president Wayne Watson, continues to fight back.
Dive Insight:
Colleges and universities across Illinois are joining to make a case to Springfield to pass a budget. Rauner proposed cuts to higher education spending, but a budget of any sort would, arguably, be better than remaining in limbo.
Many administrators right now face unknown futures. And in the meantime, colleges are covering state scholarships to students who would be forced to drop out without them, hoping they'll be reimbursed at the end of the budget standoff.
In Pennsylvania, where months-long deadlock resulted in an interim budget just last month, students at many schools are expecting less than promised because of cuts. And the state's universities still have no aid on its way, according to TribLive.