The Chancellor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign says the campus is implementing a financial and budget plan that can sustain a budget crisis.
The state higher education budget reduced state money to the state’s flagship university by 12%. Chancellor Robert Jones says that’s a significant reduction, but the campus is ready to handle fewer state dollars, "thanks to the collective preparation of our faculty and our administrative staff over the past few years.”
Speaking on the Urbana campus Thursday, Jones reported that the university made $67 million in permanent cuts during the two-year budget impasse, but increased student aid funding by $12 million.
Jones added that the U of I continues to change its budgeting process in order to withstand any future political budget stand-offs in Springfield.