There was a time when a high school diploma was the ticket to getting a good job that paid a decent wage and provided benefits. That time is over. Today the path to self-sufficiency is a college degree. Start by considering earnings potential. Back in 1979, the median earnings of a full-time worker with a bachelor’s degree were 38% greater on average than a high school grad’s. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2024 that wage differential had ballooned to 84%.
That growth in wage differential is just one of many compelling indicia that demonstrate the increased value of gaining a postsecondary education. In fact, virtually all the data show that folks with college degrees have lower rates of unemployment, higher incomes and better life outcomes than do their peers who don’t complete college. A study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research institute, even found that communities with more college-educated individuals enjoy lower crime rates, better overall health and higher wages for all workers — not just those with advanced degrees.
Yet despite all the documented benefits accruing to both individuals and communities from getting a college degree, state funding for higher education in Illinois has declined in real terms for decades. That disinvestment has been so substantial that even though state appropriations for higher education have increased in nominal dollars each of the last three fiscal years, after adjusting for inflation, total state funding for higher education at the end of fiscal year 2027 is projected to be 47.3%, or fully $2.362 billion less, than it was nearly 30 years ago in FY 2000, under Republican Gov. George Ryan.
The good news is, Illinois Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford is providing some real visionary leadership on this issue. A couple of years ago, she co-chaired a legislatively established the Commission on Equitable Public University Funding. That commission was composed of legislators, independent policy experts and representation from each public university in the state. The commission, which — full disclosure — I also served on, issued a recommendation to the General Assembly on how to design an evidence-based formula that would “adequately, equitably, and stably fund public universities in this State.”
Lightford, together with colleagues in both chambers of the General Assembly, translated that recommendation into legislation, introduced as Senate Bill 13. If enacted, SB 13 will represent the first ever research-based formula for funding public universities in Illinois history. According to Lightford, the formula supports core university operating functions, funds programs proven to attract and graduate traditionally underrepresented students, and will help reduce the cost of attending public universities for all students, while also eliminating barriers to both higher-ed access and completion based on income.
Providing opportunity
Lightford emphasized that “every Student in Illinois deserves the opportunity to go to college and get a degree, no matter their ZIP code, their family’s income, or which public university they attend. But Illinois’ historic approach to funding higher education doesn’t create that opportunity. The facts make it clear that to date, state funding for public universities in Illinois is uneven, and the students who need the most support often attend institutions with the fewest resources.”
Lightford noted that the evidence-based funding metrics in SB 13 reveal that as things stand today, Illinois’ public universities collectively have only 68.5% of the resources they need to serve students adequately. She lamented that “this gap isn’t fair, and it translates into higher tuition bills and larger debts for all students, while making it financially difficult for many low-income, first generation, and rural students to complete their degrees.”
During our conversation, Lightford stressed that SB 13 would directly redress the most troubling aspects of the state’s current, highly political and completely unscientific approach to funding public universities, by creating a student-centered formula that identifies the financial resources each university requires to both serve all its students well, irrespective of their backgrounds or specific learning needs, and satisfy its unique educational mission.
“Equity does not mean treating every institution the same,” Lightford insisted. “It means giving every student what they need to succeed academically. A first-generation student in Chicago, a rural student in southern Illinois and a working parent returning to school all deserve to attend a university that has the resources it takes to support them through graduation.”
Lightford explained that’s why SB 13 would focus new state investments on those public universities facing the greatest financial challenges, and crucially pair this heightened investment of taxpayer dollars with new transparency and accountability metrics to ensure every dollar supports student success.
Lightford ended our conversation with a simple request: that her colleagues pass SB 13 and give every Illinois student a fair shot at a self-sufficient future.
Ralph Martire is executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a nonpartisan fiscal policy think tank, and the Arthur Rubloff professor of public policy at Roosevelt University.