State must fund grants for students

College students in Illinois who can least afford it are bearing the brunt of a devastating cut in the state budget. The Illinois Monetary Award Program - called MAP - has been slashed in half and nearly 138,000 students have been abandoned midyear since their grants for the spring semester have been eliminated.

MAP provides educational opportunities to low-income citizens. A full 47 percent of MAP grant recipients come from families with an annual household income of less than $20,000 and another 30 percent come from families with an annual household income of less than $40,000. MAP helps reduce the educational attainment gap by encouraging more low-income Illinois residents to apply to and stay in Illinois colleges and universities. Cutting MAP sends the wrong message to the very students we need to support to stay in school.

I was privileged to chair a task force of business, labor, civic, and educational leaders that prepared a blueprint for education policy for the next decade, The Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career Success. The report documents clearly that the future of Illinois depends upon more affordable access to higher education for more Illinoisans. In fact, when compared to other states, Illinois is below the national average for college graduates per 100 high school graduates. The Illinois Public Agenda issues the challenge and details the steps we must take to close the attainment gap in our state. Needless to say, cutting MAP funds is not the path that is recommended.

When the General Assembly returns to Springfield in mid-October it must reinstate funding for MAP grants for the spring semester. We need more Illinoisans in school and earning degrees if Illinois is to become a state ready to face the future.

Carrie J. Hightman

Chairwoman, Illinois Board of Higher Education

Springfield