Last week, I was chatting with a mother and father about their daughter’s college plans.
Their high schooler is visiting college campuses, and they are encouraging her to consider attending a college out of state.
I was surprised.
OPINION
Both parents are such loyal University of Illinois graduates that I thought one must bleed Orange and the other Blue.
And their daughter is whip-smart, a National Honor Society member and a shoo-in to be admitted to Illinois’ flagship university.
“I hate to say it, but with the financial aid being offered, she can attend Iowa State as an out-of-stater for a lot less than the University of Illinois as an in-state student,” her mother told me.
It’s a common refrain being heard across the Land of Lincoln.
In fact, most kids who are admitted to the University of Illinois choose not to attend.
According to university data, back in 2006 58 percent of Illinois students offered admission to the U of I attended. In 2013, that number dropped to 45 percent.
The primary reason for the drop off in students choosing to attend this great university is cost.
If you are an engineering student entering the U of I this fall you can plan to spend $35,340 per year for tuition, room and board and other expenses. That’s $141,360 for the degree — if you are able to graduate in four years.
There are a lot of reasons why college costs are escalating.
But one of the biggest is a mindset of university administrators that has elevated their own well-being above the students.
Look no further than the latest university financial shenanigans involving U of I Chancellor Phyllis Wise.
She got caught using a personal email account to conduct sensitive official business.
It became clear that her boss, the university president, wanted her out. She agreed to quit the $549,069 job but expected to be cut a check for $400,000 for sticking around for four years.
At first University President Timothy Killeen was hunky-dory with this sweetheart deal. Then the politicians in Springfield began to squawk, and the university trustees began to tremble and suddenly it wasn’t such a good plan after all.
The university appears to have promised her a $500,000 bonus if she stuck around for five years or a prorated amount if she got the boot before her contract was up.
Why would the stewards of tax dollars and our children’s tuition agree to such a deal?
Just think about it.
Moms and Dads in Carpentersville, Galesburg, Moline and elsewhere in the state are sacrificing to pay their kids way through college so folks like Wise can collect $400,000 after losing her job?
Lots of those parents have received pink slips of their own and have received little more than a walk to the parking lot by a security guard.
Our state is broke and yet our hard-earned tax dollars are being funneled to Champaign to pay salaries topping half a million bucks?
That’s more than we pay the president of the United States.
And our students are putting their futures in hock to pay tuition to a university that spends its money this recklessly?
Give me a break.
This is the arrogance of academia in full display.
We deserve better.
Scott Reeder is a columnist with Illinois News Network, a project of the Illinois Policy Institute.
EmaiL: sreeder@illinoispolicy.org.
Follow Scott Reeder on Twitter at: @scottreeder
