State higher ed funding is already double the national average.
Despite a projected sharp decline in high school graduates, Illinois lawmakers are considering jacking up university funding that’s already twice the national average.
House Bill 1581 would boost state money to the state’s public universities by $135 million a year over the next 15 years. Meanwhile, in about the same time frame the number of high school graduates in Illinois is forecast to fall 32%.
Given that, the state should focus on efficient use of higher education money and meeting workforce needs, not spending more.
Illinois’ public colleges and universities already are funded at twice the national average. In 2025, Illinois allocated $2.6 billion to colleges in the annual budget.
At the same time, research has found that Illinois public universities provided the Midwest’s lowest median return on investment, at only $112,154 — less than half of South Dakota’s $216,927. That return is the additional income a person earned as a result of having a degree minus the cost of college.
Illinois charges the region’s highest and the nation’s ninth-highest in-state tuition and fees, at $14,921 per year. That doesn’t include room and board and other costs.
Not even half of Illinoisans who enroll in a four-year public university earn a degree within six years —only 48.7% in 2025, slightly better than the national 47.5%.
At the same time, demographic trends point toward fewer college students nationwide.
The total number of high school graduates in America was projected to peak at 3.8 million to 3.9 million in 2025, according to research from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. By 2041, the number of high school graduates is projected to fall to 3.4 million, a decline of 13%.
Illinois’ number of high school graduates is projected to decline by 32% in the next 16 years, from about 145,000 in 2025 to just over 99,000 in 2041.
What’s more, fewer high school graduates go to college. From 2012 to 2022, college enrollment by high school graduates in the U.S. declined from 41% of students to 39%.
HB 1581 sets “a base funding minimum” for each eligible public institution. The proposed legislation claims there have been “historic inequities in university funding” and seeks to rectify them.
With Illinois poised to see fewer college graduates, the focus should be on spending higher education money wisely, not increasing it, and using a career-first education model to align programs with workforce needs. Illinois should:
- Ensure public funding for colleges and universities is used efficiently and effectively.
- Regularly assess workforce trends to align education with labor market needs.
- Shift funding from universities’ administrations to support additional apprenticeship programming.
