Illinois Higher Education Floundering, Government Corruption Part Of The Problem: Study

A study released last month by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education shows declining interest in higher education among Illinois students -- and says government corruption is at least partially to blame.

The study, titled “A Story of Decline: Performance and Policy in Illinois Higher Education,” says that in the past decade, Illinois went from being a leader in higher education to falling behind in college preparation, participation and affordability, and says the state has made "no progress toward ameliorating a persistent pattern of inequity in higher education."

“I think for whatever combination of reasons higher education slipped off the agenda of state government,” Stanley Ikenberry, the former president of the University of Illinois, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “While higher education was very much on the agenda for Jim Thompson and Jim Edgar in Illinois I don’t think higher education was on the agenda at all for George Ryan and even less for Blagojevich. If you’ve got a governor who doesn’t really care, that’s a major loss.”

The study echoed Ikenberry's sentiments, blaming "a weak and ineffective" Illinois Board of Higher Education and citing corruption in political appointments to various boards and state agencies under Blagojevich and Ryan.

This year, Gov. Pat Quinn tried putting an end to the state's controversial and often corrupt legislative scholarship program, but was blocked by powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan, who defended the awarding of tuition waivers to family members or friends of state politicians.

The consequences of this lack of attention to higher education in Illinois have been extremely damaging, the study shows:

• The state has seen declines in the percentage of high school freshmen enrolling in college within four years and the percentage of high school graduates immediately enrolling in college.

• The share of 25- to 49-year-olds enrolled in college has dropped markedly.

• Tuition has risen sharply while family incomes have fallen. At the same time, state support for needbased grants has dropped significantly.

• Blacks, Hispanics and people living in poverty are far less likely than other Illinoisans to enroll in college or, if they do enroll, to graduate within six years. Inequity in higher education is especially prominent in Chicago, which has a fifth of the state’s population and high proportions of black, Hispanic and low-income residents

Where do we go from here? Study authors Laura Perna and Joni Finney of the University of Pennsylvania say the state would need to make significant changes to see any improvement.

The state would have to drastically increase the number of people getting associates and bachelor's degrees annually, increase access to higher education for its growing Hispanic population and reduce cuts which prevent many Illinois families from being able to afford college. With the state's growing fiscal problems, this is unlikely to happen any time soon.

Comments

[HughWW]

03:29 PM on 12/06/2011

In Illinois higher education is government corruption.

[angry pancho]

11:57 AM on 12/06/2011

I'm afraid another reason for the decline may be the huge number of foreign students taking up space rightfully due Illinoisans while paying a premium for the privilege. I'm told there's no other way to keep paying professors and administrators exorbitant salaries.

[mira chancleta]

09:28 AM on 12/06/2011

ISU has hit rock bottom...I've seen people hired there from other universities who wouldn't have been hired anywhere else. Racist, PC politics trump hiring decisions and the race, ethnicity and victimhood quotient of the applicant wins out every time. I wouldn't send my cat to be be litter-trained there.

[Howard53545]

04:36 AM on 12/06/2011

One of those Wisconsin dudes was the former head.

[lakefront liberal]

10:05 PM on 12/05/2011

The one disappointment that I had when moving to Chicago from Boston was the general level of education and respect for knowledge of the average person I would meet in social situations. I found that provincialism and the idea that family or political connections can allow one to coast through life is was a theme that I saw in people from the guy on the street to our political leaders here. This sort of thinking has degraded the level of attention that people and the government places on education and skills building. Illinois has some great schools, but we need to bring as many people as we can to a higher level of education if we expect to be a globally competitive city and state. The great divide in opportunity, level of education, income, and other aspects of life here are something that we really need rectify to improve our prospects in this highly competitive economy.

[HearHear]

06:12 PM on 12/05/2011

The article is about higher education and government corruption. Higher education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at academies, universities, seminaries, colleges, and institutes. But, if you want to get picky, Brandt is also a life trustee at Fenwick High School.

Brandt's firstborn recently obtained her master's from ..... Loyola University of Chicago. Hence, people like Brandt are the problem.

[empress trudy]

05:29 PM on 12/05/2011

There's always civil service. Not everyone gets to be an astronaut.

[vmark]

02:23 PM on 12/05/2011

well...well....imagine that.

[suzee q]

02:17 PM on 12/05/2011

The U of I went downhill after they hired Nancy Cantor who is now at Syracuse.

[Jay Rosenstein productio]

12:04 AM on 12/06/2011

Proof?

[suzee q]

11:48 AM on 12/08/2011

Take a look at the budget as well as the other Chancellors and President's that are no longer there due to some form of corruption after her tenure. She also is the one that successfully got rid of the Chief. Boo!

[HearHear]

02:17 PM on 12/05/2011

How to you expect higher education to prosper when a person like William A. Brandt, Jr., who was caught falsifying his credentials* while under oath, is a trustee at Loyola University Chicago? Thanks to Blago and Quinn, Brandt is also Chairman of the Illinois Finance Authority. I guess it must be hard to find people that aren't lacking in moral turpitude.

*In a bankruptcy proceeding, Brandt falsely claimed he had obtained master's degree from Harvard University and master's and doctorate degrees in international economic development from the University of Chicago. He also falsely stated that he had learned the basics of the turnaround trade as an "on and off" contract worker for the CIA in Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, Washington and at the University of Chicago. Source: New York Times, February 5, 1997.

[BluebirdofUnhappiness]

03:45 PM on 12/05/2011

Actually the article is about high schoolers and others going to or qualifying for college.

[knightoftheroundtable]

11:58 AM on 12/05/2011

We just need a new group of corrupters in IL. The same old group of dems repubs keep coming up with the same ol same ol. A new group maybe has a different way to corrupt that may help the schools...
Just saying.

[cavallo]

11:11 AM on 12/05/2011

Corruption? Chicago? Nah, never happen.

And the Mayor of Chicago earned $18,000,000.00 in two years? And he is concerned about poor people?

Folks, it is corporations that control the mayor. People, citizens, voters have nothing to do with politics in Chicago. They are a non-entity. They can demonstrate until they are blue in the face and the establishment will continue to laugh at them. Maybe if two or three progressives should happen to have the wherewithal to run for city council offices and win, they might be able to make a few waves and get the support of the people behind them, so that when the power structure that controls the city continues to bleed the city dry, enough feet pounding the pavement might make a difference.

[amberbs84]

11:52 AM on 12/05/2011

You do realize that Illinois is more than Chicago, right? What does the Mayor of Chicago's salary have to do with Illinois state higher education policy -- nothing

[cavallo]

11:59 AM on 12/05/2011

Shows that the mayor of Chicago, which, for the most part, runs the state, does not have the citizens' interests at heart, but rather his corporate benefactors.

[cavallo]

12:02 PM on 12/05/2011

The last mayor of Chicago who put peoples' interests first was Harold Washington. He marched with the people, and fought corruption. Unfortunately, like many good women and men, he was taken from us too young.

[glassjaw]

11:05 AM on 12/05/2011

this STATE is the epitome of corruption , nepotism, patronage and criminality,,,,,,, Durbin, Schakowsky, the Daleys, Madigan, Strogers, Obama , Cullerton, Quinnoccio, ,,,,,,,

WHAT DOES THE STUDY SAY ABOUT WISCONSIN AND INDIANA

[The 5 Percent]

11:22 AM on 12/05/2011

It is a shame that you only mention corrupt democrats in your post. The article metioned the corruption of George Ryan. Republicans and democrats at all levels are corrupt. People need to open thier eyes and see that it should not matter what party these politicians are from. Judge them on thier actions. If you really think Wisconsin and Indiana are not corrupt you really need to do some research beyond right leaning publications and tv shows. The vast majority of policians have no intention of serving anyone but them selves. It is about money not political party!!

[glassjaw]

11:56 AM on 12/05/2011

GEORGE LYIN RYAN and Jim Thompson were pretty heinous,,,,,BUT MADIGANISTAN IS RUN BY THE DEMOCRAT UNIONISTA CABAL ,,,,AND WISCONSIN AND INDIANA ARE PRISTINE IN COMPARISON

[amberbs84]

11:56 AM on 12/05/2011

Ironically you mention many of the politicians who haven't been sent to prison for corruption. I would do with Blago and G. Ryan. I don't know about Indiana, but considering how much the Koch brothers (I mean Scott Walker) have cut to education in the state, it wouldn't surprise me if they made cuts to higher education also.