Health & Fitness

Cost of attending IL public universities

WHAT'S IT COST? Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was proud of his low ACT score and his administration did its best to starve higher education in Illinois. Blagojevich is long gone, but now the state's financial condition is making things tough for public colleges. For the better part of a decade, Illinois' public universities have been battling ever-shrinking state funding. That's driven tuition costs up. Our chart today shows the cost of attending Illinois' 11 public universities

LOSING OPPORTUNITY It's not just at the college level that Illinois is failing to invest in its future. Mike Lawrence, former press secretary to Gov. Jim Edgar and founding director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, laments that the state's woeful financial condition means Illinois is leaving thousands of young Illinoisans behind. "Allowing innocents to fall behind and never close the gap defies humaneness and pragmatism; it cheats them and us of their potential and productivity," Lawrence writes. Lawrence is among the most thoughtful and insightful observers of Illinois government, and he's got worthwhile ideas, based on historic precedent, for getting Illinois back on track. Read his column here.

LITE GOV POLITICS South of Interstate 80, there's a vocal contingent of voters who would be happy to secede from Illinois -- or see Cook County and greater Chicagoland lopped off and sent drifting into Lake Michigan. Unfortunately for them, this portion of Illinois provides the majority of voters in statewide primary and general elections. That's why three of the four Republican candidates for governor have picked suburbanites as their running mates. (Not that it matters much, unless one of the lieutenant governor picks proves to be an Illinois version of Sarah Palin.) Downstate may have the advantage in square mileage, but land doesn't vote. People do. Reboot's Madeleine Doubek explains in a blog post today the electoral politics of Illinois' geography. 

Find out what's happening in Palatinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

TAX FUTURE Illinois' shaky finances has created an unstable and unpredictable future for the state income tax. It's supposed to drop from 5 percent to 3.75 percent in 2015, but so far no one has adequately explained how allowing that to happen will do anything but inflict more damage on our schools and other vital government functions. But our fragile economy -- we currently have the second highest unemployment in the nation -- will only be hurt further if taxes go up. We think you deserve to hear what your representative and senator, along with Gov. Quinn and the four legislative leaders, have in mind for the state income tax 14 months from now. Use our Sound Off tool to send them a message that you want answers. It's easy and effective. Use the message we've provided or write your own. Action is just a few clicks away with Sound Off.

Find out what's happening in Palatinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

BIPARTISANSHIP FAIL Last week we highlighted a speech by Sen. Dick Durbin in which he praised his Republican counterpart, Mark Kirk, for his pledge to put partisanship aside and vote to raise the debt ceiling. Well, never mind. 

HEADLINES Here's what's making news in Illinois today:

  • 5. A former Chicago teacher offers some solutions to the education problems in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune)
    4. Unemployment numbers in southern Illinois mostly went down in August. (Southern Illinoisan)
    3. Opinion: Taxpayers are the losers if the Illiana Expressway project goes forward. (Chicago Tribune)
    2. Archer Daniels Midland considering Dallas, Atlanta and Minneapolis as possible headquarter relocation spots. (Bloomberg)
    1. Almost half of the Chicago students whose schools were closed did not enroll in the new schools they were supposed to attend this school year. (Chicago Tribune)
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