Urgent – Sign the Fund Our Future petition to urge the governor to pass the state budget!
As Governor Rauner continues to hold the state budget hostage to push his obsessive, anti-union agenda, college students and their families are suffering. As a candidate, Rauner ran as the “Education Governor,” while Rauner the governor will allow more than 100,000 low-income students to fall through the cracks unless he takes action to pass a budget.
In 2014, the Monetary Award Program (MAP) provided tuition assistance to 136,000 students attending Illinois colleges and universities. Without a budget to fund this essential program, these students’ educations are in jeopardy.
The MAP is half a century old and colleges and universities depend on it for funding. This situation puts all colleges and universities at risk because funding is determined mostly by student enrollment. When students drop out, schools lose money and have to further cut back on programs. All students lose when the MAP is defunded.
“It’s going to put me in a situation that I can’t afford to be in right now,” said a Kishwakee College student regarding the hold on MAP grants, who may need to drop out of school as a result.
High school seniors will be receiving college acceptance letters soon, but still may not know whether or not they can afford to go to school. The Governor’s refusal to act puts the brakes on their college dreams.
Some of the larger schools have moved around funds to keep students in class — which takes money from other programs — but some smaller colleges simply do not have the money to give their students the help they need.
Even the Governor’s allies are frustrated with his refusal to pass a budget to fund MAP and other vital programs.
Filed under: News |
Harper College Adjunct Faculty Association 
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