Illinois' public colleges and universities are making an austere budget request to the state. The Board of Higher Education will ask to keep level funding for the coming fiscal year. Harry Berman is the interim Executive Director. He says it's less than what is needed:
"If the state funding is kept level or decreased and tuition is really hardly going up at all then you can see what kind of pressure that puts on universities in order to keep the ships afloat."
The Board will also lay out a range of options that would show how funding increases could be used. But with the state's tight finances, additional money is unlikely. Berman says maintaining MAP grant funding to help needy students afford college will also be recommended. The Governor called for expanding the scholarships in his State of the State Address last week.