Transformational boost for higher-ed would also help state

It isn’t often lawmakers get to consider transformational policy proposals. Legislative change is typically incremental. But just last week, the state’s Commission on Equitable Public University Funding issued a report that made a series of recommendations to the Illinois General Assembly and governor that would not only transform how the state invests in public universities, but would also build Illinois’ economy and help eliminate historical inequities low-income and minority students have faced in gaining access to and graduating from college.

According to state Rep. Carol Ammons, one of the commission’s co-chairs, the idea behind its creation grew out of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus’s desire to have a panel of experts review how higher-education funding in the state could be reformed to “promote greater equity in access to college for traditionally under-represented student populations generally, and Black and Brown students specifically.” The commission was also charged with making recommendations on how to bring some stability to the funding of public universities and quantify a level of funding for each university that would be adequate for it to satisfy its mission, meet the educational needs of its current student population and enroll and graduate a more diverse student population in the future.

In its report, the commission identified the parameters of a funding formula that would satisfy each of its legislative charges. The proposed formula — which would be the first of its kind in the nation — considers everything from the daily costs of operating facilities and covering faculty salaries, to mission-specific activities, and the evidence-based programing needed to help attract and successfully graduate traditionally disadvantaged student populations, be they low-income, rural, minority, or special needs.

Funding this new formula would cost about $1.4 billion, which the Commission recommends be done over a period of time. For instance, to fully fund that $1.4 billion in real, inflation-adjusted terms over 10 years, Illinois would have to increase General Fund appropriations for higher education by $135 million annually during that ten-year period. Taking this approach would bring needed stability to higher-ed funding, and allow public universities to thoughtfully plan their budgets. That’d be a major improvement over past practice, where higher-ed funding not only vacillated significantly over time — but has actually been cut in real terms by over 40% since FY 2000.

As it turns out, Illinois’ long-term disinvestment in higher-ed was a really bad move for numerous reasons. Start with simple economics. The correlations between economic viability and educational attainment are stronger now than ever before. Consider that in 1979, a person with a B.A. or higher earned 38% more than a high school graduate. By 2022, that differential had ballooned to 85%. Cutting higher-ed funding in this environment is counterproductive at best. Oh, and studies show that for each additional dollar Illinois puts into higher-ed, the state’s private sector grows by over three bucks. So making the recommended $1.4 billion investment will generate some $4.2 billion in economic activity.

Meanwhile the evidence also supports the commission’s focus on equity. To cite just one example: as things stand today, 70.2% of white students who enter college graduate within six years, while only 37.3% of Black students do. Given the strong correlations between educational attainment and wages, is it any wonder that Bureau of Labor Statistics data reveal Black workers currently earn about 75 cents on the dollar when compared to their white peers?

And that differential in earnings has contributed to a vicious cycle, by making college particularly unaffordable for Black families. Indeed, while the average, annual cost of attending a public university in Illinois consumes 18% of the median yearly income of white households, it takes fully 33% of Black median household income.

So if the goal is to build a state where everyone has the opportunity to prosper, then creating an evidence-based formula for funding public universities that stimulates economic growth while redressing historical inequities makes all the sense in the world.

• Ralph Martire is Executive Director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a fiscal policy think tank, and the Arthur Rubloff Professor of Public Policy at Roosevelt University. rmartire@ctbaonline.org