DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — If you call the Millikin University Commons, Kyle Brown is often the guy on the line with you.
But his job is more than that. He makes sure the projectors work, he cleans rooms and he checks how the money adds up.
However, like most college kids, he wishes it added up a little more.
"[Raising the minimum wage] would definitely help me out with paying bills," he said.
Brown makes $9 per hour. Students following in his footsteps six years from now will be making at least $15.
"Having more money to [pay expenses] will definitely help them because things are becoming more expensive," Brown said.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill raising the Illinois minimum wage gradually into law Tuesday. The wage will increase to $9.25 per hour in January 2020 and then $10 per hour in July 2020. It will then go up $1 per year until 2025.
But money doesn't just come from nowhere.
Millikin could be on the hook for roughly $1.62 million in extra costs when all of its 500 student workers make $15 per hour. That figure was reached by assuming a student worker works a 15 hour week, multiplied by 32 weeks in a school year and 500 campus workers.
As for where the difference gets made up, the university is still looking into that.
"Tuition does tend to increase at most institutions every year," said VP of finance and business affairs Ruby James. "Will it be a high tuition increase because of this? We don't know yet."
But regardless of what the university does, Brown is optimistic about the future.
"I definitely see [raising the minimum wage] as a good thing — especially for people around my age like students," Brown said.
