Illinois Bill Would Overhaul Public University Funding Formula, Target Underfunded Schools

Illinois lawmakers are considering a major reform to how public universities receive state funding. The proposed bills would replace the current flat percentage increase model with a formula based on institutional needs and student demographics.

Senate Bill 13 and House Bill 1581 represent what supporters call the Adequate and Equitable Public University Funding Act. The legislation would increase public university funding by $135 million each year over the next 15 years, with funds distributed according to a new formula.

Current system creates funding gaps Under the current system, every public university in Illinois receives the same percentage increase or decrease from the previous fiscal year. This applies uniformly across all institutions regardless of their specific circumstances.

In fiscal year 2026, Western Illinois University received $57.4 million in state appropriations while the University of Illinois received $726.6 million. Both figures represent a 1% increase from fiscal year 2025. However, the actual dollar amounts differ significantly due to the base funding disparity. Westerns 1% increase represented $568,000 while the University of Iллиinois 1% increase was $5.2 million.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education reported these numbers in their fiscal year analysis.

Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford D-Maywood is the chief sponsor of SB0013. Lightford was part of a commission created in 2021 to address higher education funding issues. The 30-person Commission on Equitable Public University Funding studied over a two-year period if public higher education institutions needed a new funding model.

Lightford told WGEM News that state appropriations for public universities have essentially been cut in half over the last 20 to 25 years. The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability reported that state spending on higher education fell 46% between 2000 and 2023.

Lightford said the disinvestment in state schools has led universities to raise tuition costs. According to the 2025 Illinois Student Assistance Commission data book, the average cost of tuition and fees at a public four-year school in Illinois has gone from $7,151 in 2005 to $17,339 in the 2024-2025 academic year.

The Education Data Initiative reports that Illinois has the highest cost for in-state tuition and fees and room and board compared to its border states at $29,400. Wisconsins rate is approximately $19,900. Iowa and Missouri rates are approximately $22,400. Indiana rates at $22,500. Kentucky rates at $26,000.

Pritzkers proposed budget for fiscal year 2027 calls for little new funding with a 1% general fund increase for the operating costs of public universities.

Lightford is worried that if the current trend continues, schools will continue to raise tuition costs, making prospective college students look elsewhere for schooling.

Lightford emphasized that state appropriations for public universities have gone from covering 75% of university costs to now covering 28%. The national average, per the Illinois Board of Higher Education as of 2024, is 61%.

Equitable formula proposed The new formula would disperse state funds based on a universitys specific calculated needs. The formula sets an adequacy target for each school and gives priority for new funding to institutions furthest from their target.

According to Advance Illinois, an independent advocacy and research group focused on public education, WIU is the least funded university, or school that is furthest from adequacy, in the whole state. Advance Illinois reports that WIU is 48% fully funded. The average university is funded at 89% while regional schools like Western are much lower.

Eastern Illinois University and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville are 49% funded. Northern Illinois University is funded at 51%.

Advance Illinois reported that with the new formula, WIU would receive $35,000 per student compared to the current $16,000.

Eyob Villa-Moges, a senior policy associate with Advance Illinois, said the state funding cuts over the last few decades have posed not only a threat to schools, but to the communities they are located in. Villa-Moges said for every single university, except those in Chicago, they are the number one or two employer in that city.

Villa-Moges argued that the way universities are currently funded is entirely political. He said it does not make a difference if university representatives advocate for more funding in Springfield or not. That number is pulled from a number of different factors such as what are the priorities of that administration, or what is the revenue reality or budget reality for the state at that moment.

Enrollment declines strain budgets Directional universities across Illinois have seen dramatic decreases in enrollment in the last decade.

From 2014 to 2024, Northern Illinois University lost just over 5,000 students. Enrollment that hovered around 20,000 students at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 2010 has since fallen to 11,790. Eastern Illinois University, which peaked at over 12,000 students over 20 years ago, dropped to 7,030 students in 2017 but has since seen a steady uptick.

Since 2015, enrollment at Western Illinois University has decreased from 11,094 to about 6,000.

Because of lesser funds coming in from the state, schools have had to rely more on the money they are bringing in from students. Proponents of the funding formula said it is hard to do that when enrollment is falling.

Zach Messersmith, WIUs director of Public and Government Relations, said the new funding formula needs to be passed now rather than later. There is a year of data gathering and then the funding would start the year after that, so the sooner we do this the better.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that college enrollment rates of recent high school graduates between 16 and 24 years old are at a 10-year low with roughly 61% enrolled as of October 2023.

University of Illinois pushback University officials have cited population decline, leading to an enrollment cliff.

On March 26, HB1581 moved out of a House committee in a 12-4 vote. The bill could face a full House vote in the near future, despite pushback from the University of Illinois. U of I officials believe the formula would under resource the state flagshipschool.

The bill stalled in the House ahead of last Friday crossover deadline. Hundreds of students and educators rallied at the Statehouse in support of the Equitable Public University Funding Act.

Jennifer Juarez, director of higher education policy at the Latino Policy Forum, said the bills would provide clearer expectations for both taxpayers and universities while encouraging schools to freeze tuition. She listed services like mental health support, tutoring, career programs and staffing as essentials that underfunded institutions are often forced to cut.

Kristi Barnwell, a history professor at the University of Illinois Springfield and past president of UIS United Faculty, said underfunding creates a cycle of doubt for first-year students. Barnwell said the campus has operated at a deficit for years because the University of Illinois system does not distribute money at an equitable rate.

We do not have enough money to have staff members at departments sitting at the desk to help direct students when they are trying to find an answer. That is the first place where students start to get lost and doubt themselves, Barnwell said.