End college tuition breaks
The (Bloomington, Ind.) Pantagraph: One of the perks of being a university employee is getting a break on your child’s tuition.
If you’ve worked at one or more Illinois public universities for at least seven years, your child will get a 50 percent discount on their tuition.
Fees aren’t included in the waiver and you still have to pay the other half of the tuition, but that’s still a nice benefit — and it’s one that should be reviewed as universities grapple with tighter finances.
Last year, 286 children of Illinois State University employees attending an Illinois public university took part in the tuition reduction program — which is valid at any Illinois public university, not just the one where the parent works. One hundred students receiving reduced tuition under this program attended ISU. These figures were provided by university officials.
Students must qualify for admission to the university like anyone else and must be under 25 to be eligible. This is a statewide program, so it will take state legislative action to end it.
Senate Minority leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, introduced a bill this year that would have eliminated this program for future employees. However, Senate Bill 1318 went nowhere.
Recruitment tool
The tuition-reduction program is seen as a tool for recruiting and retaining faculty and staff. But its effectiveness is difficult to measure. Would removal of this benefit be a deal breaker when attempting to hire staff or professors? Clearly, those with children who might be attending college seven or more years from now would find it attractive. But we suspect other factors would play a bigger role.
Just because such a benefit has been offered for a long time, that alone is not sufficient justification for its continuation — especially when public universities should be looking for every possible way to keep expenses in check.
When economic times were better, there may have been good reasons for this program. But that’s no longer the case.
Radogno should continue to push for repeal of this program.