The absence of higher ed funding in Illinois and now almost 10 months without a state budget has left Carl Sandburg College uncertain about actions they need to take.
“Nothing’s coming in at all and we just don’t have any idea about when it will or if it will for this year,” says Dr. Lori Sundberg, Carl Sandburg President.
She tells WGIL that if the school could know where factors effecting school revenue stood in Springfield then at least plans could be made.
Freezes to property taxes, the General Assembly passing a budget and if that budget would contain higher ed cuts all are mysteries to Sandburg.
Meanwhile, the school fronted half of their students’ MAP grants and all of the adult education funding for in the fall semester.
Sundberg says even more troubling to her is a long term population decline that has watched residents move away from the state and community.
“It’s a move away from small, rural towns and more toward urban areas,” Sundberg says. “And really if we want to keep the college as robust as it is and have as many programs as we have we need more population to do that.”
Sundberg adds that a steady 16 to 17 year enrollment decline at Sandburg mirrors the decline in local residents. She also explains that Sandburg’s three main revenue sources are property taxes, state payments and tuition and that a freeze to property taxes and decrease in state payments would likely lead to an uptick in tuition.
