ILLINOIS (WAND) – A push to keep students in Illinois after high school took a new step with the signing of new laws.
Gov. Bruce Rauner signed Senate Bill 2927 on Tuesday, a move that officially created the AIM HIGH Grant Pilot Program. It allots $25 million in Fiscal Year 2019 money and will be matched by Illinois universities, creating a pool of at least $50 million for students. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission will then give the money to public colleges based on their number of in-state students enrolled.
Schools will then be able to choose how they want to award merit-based scholarships based on their campus population needs.
“We have world-class institutions here in Illinois,” Rauner said. “AIM HIGH will make them more affordable for Illinois families and allow us to better compete with out-of-state institutions offering robust financial aid packages.”
The recently created Higher Education Working Group helped create this pilot program in an effort to make sure Illinois talent remain local. Rauner and other lawmakers say the effort to change the status quo is essential because students are finding education in other places. The National Center for Education Statistics says enrollment at public colleges in Illinois fell by 50,000 people between 1991 and 2014.
“For too long, our ‘best and brightest’ have been leaving Illinois,” said Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet. “This brain drain and enrollment decline has not only devastated several of our universities and the communities they sit in, it also has hurt Illinois’ future as these students do not return. They instead pay taxes elsewhere, create, invent, and move another state’s economy forward with their work and efforts. People think that this is a new phenomenon. It is not. Demand for public higher education has been sliding for over 25 years, and we have been a net exporter of intellectual talent since the 1970s. It was well past time for the General Assembly to stand up and lead on this issue.”
House Bill 4781 established as task force that will look to see how the career and college interest data of students can be gathered and shared with public universities. Its study will be the sent to the General Assembly by Jan. 30, 2019, in order to prepare schools for new students.
Rauner signed both bills at Papa Del’s restaurant in Champaign. He says the business, created by Bill ‘Pops’ Monti, is a “perfect example” of what Illinoisans who stay in the state can do.
“He moved to Champaign to go to college more than 50 years ago and stayed to build a business and create jobs,” Rauner said. “Had he gone to school out-of-state, their economy and consumers would be benefitting, not ours.”
Rose says the new laws send a loud and clear message.
“Students and parents across Illinois should take away this from today: We want you in Illinois,” he said. “We want you to stay here, get your education here, work here, spend your money here, create, invent, and open new businesses here with your education and talents, and the new four-year MAP program and the AIM HIGH program will help you get that education and accomplish your dreams. Surrounding states should be on notice — Illinois’ higher education is no longer at a competitive disadvantage, and we are going to fight you tooth and nail to keep every last graduating senior in Illinois!”
