HR0527 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0527 LRB099 12576 GRL 36115 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Nearly one million students taking credit, non-credit, and community education courses walk through the doors of an Illinois community college each year; and

WHEREAS, Community colleges are the primary provider of higher education in Illinois; 65% of all students who are enrolled in a public institution of higher education in the State attend a community college; and

WHEREAS, More than two-thirds of all minorities in Illinois public higher education attend community colleges; nearly 15,000 students with disabilities and 62,000 students with limited English proficiency are served each year; and

WHEREAS, College costs are reduced when students are able to gain access to college-level coursework during their junior and senior years of high school through dual credit; and

WHEREAS, Community colleges offered 8,780 dual credit courses to 82,895 high school students last year; and

WHEREAS, The average tuition rate per credit hour is nearly $119.00 per credit hour; and

WHEREAS, Of the nearly 165,000 qualified MAP students who were turned away due to lack of funds in Fiscal Year 2014, almost 75% of them were community college students; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Community College System Economic Impact Study finds that, on average, all students who completed their community college education in Fiscal Year 2011 saw a gain of almost $3,600, a 30% increase in earnings over their pre-enrollment wages; and

WHEREAS, In his first State of the State Address, Governor Bruce Rauner called for an end to "the era of cutting funding for technical training and community colleges"; and

WHEREAS, Governor Rauner's Fiscal Year 2016 budget provides for an investment in our future workforce through K-12 education and community colleges; and

WHEREAS, In January of 2015, President Barack Obama announced the America's College Promise initiative to provide a community college education tuition free to qualified students; and

WHEREAS, The America's College Promise of free community college tuition, partnered with proven strategies to support student achievement and increase degree completion, would provide the critical support structures needed to ensure that our State and our nation would have an educated workforce prepared for the jobs of the future; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge President Barack Obama and Congress to make federal funds available to the Illinois Community College System; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the President of the United States, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, and the members of the Illinois congressional delegation.