HR0223 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0223 LRB102 18128 ECR 25408 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The United States faces a student debt crisis with Americans owing more than $1.7 trillion in student loans, which is more than a 100 percent increase over the last decade; and

WHEREAS, For-profit borrowers default at twice the rate of public two-year borrowers; and

WHEREAS, For-profit colleges serve less than 8 percent of Illinois students yet account for 1.7 times more in defaulted loan amounts than all other Illinois public and private institutions combined; and

WHEREAS, 74 of the 78 Illinois programs considered failing or near-failing, based on graduate debt-to-earning ratios, are at for-profit colleges; and

WHEREAS, Students of for-profit colleges often have lower graduation rates, have lower post-graduation earning potentials, and can face challenges in transferring credits to other institutions; and

WHEREAS, 99 percent of students' fraud claims concern for-profit colleges; and

WHEREAS, For-profit college executives are duty bound to act in the interest of ownership; and

WHEREAS, In fiscal year 2019, 3,000 Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants were used at for-profit colleges in Illinois; however, the same appropriation could have funded not only these students' education at community college but an additional 5,600 students as well; and

WHEREAS, The goal of MAP is to provide grant assistance to eligible Illinois students demonstrating financial need to help make college more affordable, and the average cost of higher education at Illinois' for-profit colleges is nearly twice as much compared to public universities for Illinois' lowest-income students; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge prospective Illinois students to attend public and nonprofit colleges and universities so that they can experience manageable debts, greater career earnings, and stronger returns on their investment in a higher education; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the General Assembly to use taxpayer funding to support high-quality student-centered higher education instead of subsidize profits for private companies.