U of Illinois says it has reduced staff, costs since 2015

URBANA, Ill. (AP) - The University of Illinois says it has cut the number of its employees by 484 over the past 18 months, about 3 percent of the school's non-instructional workforce.

The university said in a news release Wednesday that most of the cuts were made through attrition as people left jobs and that 202 of the positions were in the university system's central administration.

University President Timothy Killeen said the reduced workforce could save up to $1.5 million a month.

Illinois' public universities received only a fraction of their state funding last year as lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner continue to disagree over a budget.

The university employs more than 24,000 people and has an annual budget of $5.64 billion. About 11 percent of the money comes from the state.