University of Illinois tuition this fall may jump as much as 20 percent. The university’s interim president isn’t ruling out a major hike as the university struggles financially.
State law guarantees students a locked in four year rate for tuition, so any increase would primarily be felt by incoming freshmen this fall.
Interim President at the U of I, Stanley Ikenberry, is letting everyone know the potential fallout of overdue state payments. The State of Illinois owes the university nearly $500 million. Unless the state’s financial picture improves higher education could suffer even more.
U of I spokesman Tom Hardy:
HARDY: Certainly with tuition now totaling up as much or more than we get from the state, tuitiion is an important factor. So the president was talking about a range. He said it could be 10 percent, could be 20 percent, more likely it’s going to be somewhere in between.
The final number might not be avilable until May or even June, as the university’s board is likely to wait to see what the Illinois legislature will do before setting a new tutition rate.