This week the Senate met for another “rare” Committee of the Whole to discuss higher education affordability.
Senators heard from a number of panelists in the areas of need-based aid, community college funding formulas, and state support of the university system. Republican lawmakers questioned the panelists on how much state tuition, fees and other associated costs had risen over the past decade. Senate Republicans asked witnesses for insight into how to reduce administrative and tuition costs within the state’s higher education system as a way to reduce the cost burden on students and parents in Illinois.
Senators will return to the Capitol on June 23 for another Committee of the Whole, this time on the topic of the minimum wage and sick leave policies.