Written by Maloney Staff Friday, 12 August 2011 14:02
Governor Pat Quinn traveled to Western Illinois University’s Quad Cities campus in Moline today to sign State Senator Ed Maloney’s (D-Chicago) bill establishing performance-based measures to determine funding for public universities, community colleges and other state education agencies. Metrics such as student success in degree and certificate completion will be developed to influence a portion of state funding for higher education institutions.
"This matches our approach this year to budget for results for all appropriations in the Illinois Senate and extends it to Illinois universities," Maloney said. "Officials from WIU and other state institutions have been involved in setting the parameters for our initial measures. This has been a priority for me as Chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, and the opportunity to improve academic results and ensure funds are spent most efficiently make it one of the most important bills passed this year."
House Bill 1503, sponsored by Senator Maloney and Representative Chapin Rose (R-Charleston), will take effect in 2013 and begin with metrics to affect a small percentage of funding that would increase over time. Allocations would be based on academic milestones, retention, and time to completion. Statistics on students who are academically or financially at-risk, first-generation students, low-income students, and those traditionally underrepresented in higher education will also be measured to affect funding.
Complete College America is a national non-profit organization that coordinates efforts to establish performance-based higher education funding and college completion efforts throughout the country. Senator Maloney has been involved in their program since 2009.
"Currently, Illinois is not producing enough college graduates to meet our future employment needs, so our state’s and nation’s future economy are at stake," Maloney said. "Illinois ranks 13th in the proportion of 2018 jobs that will require a degree, and it will be fulfilling to see this funding approach produce more college graduates." These statistics are from a report by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce on jobs and education requirements through 2018.