Quinn vows to restore college grant program
Posted September 28, 2009 11:00 pm
Gov. Pat Quinn says he'll fight to restore funding for thousands of low income college students in Illinois.
Quinn was expected to appear at a town hall meeting Tuesday at the Chicago campus of the University of Illinois.
Funding to the Monetary Award Program, or MAP, was slashed in budget cuts.
The state's largest financial aid program helps around 200,000 Illinois students pay for college. But the program doesn't have the money to fund students in the second half of the 2009-2010 academic year.
The program contributes almost $400 million to Illinois students each year.
Top legislative leaders have vowed to focus on ways to restore the funding and have said it'll be at the top of the agenda for a veto session next month.