Full Text of HJR0066 99th General Assembly
HJ0066 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Rising tuition costs in Illinois make it | 3 | | increasingly difficult for students to pursue secondary | 4 | | education; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Student Assistance Commission has | 6 | | reported that college costs have risen faster in recent years | 7 | | than any other sector of the economy - even faster than | 8 | | healthcare; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Illinois' public universities rank as the fifth | 10 | | highest average tuition costs of any state in the United | 11 | | States; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Average tuition costs for Illinois public | 13 | | universities have risen from $6,494 in 2004 to $12,770 in 2014; | 14 | | and | 15 | | WHEREAS, There has been a 73% increase in average public | 16 | | university total cost of attendance from 2002 to 2014; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Increased costs have driven student enrollment | 18 | | downwards in Illinois public universities; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, A study conducted by the State Higher Education |
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| 1 | | Executive Officers Association found that there had been a 10% | 2 | | increase in public university enrollment nationwide from 2008 | 3 | | to 2013; in that same time however, there has been a 4.1% | 4 | | decrease in enrollment at public universities in Illinois, one | 5 | | of only 2 states to have a decrease during that time; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Illinois has been hurt with an increasing | 7 | | occurrence of "brain drain" in recent years; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, According to a 2012 study conducted by the | 9 | | National Center for Education Statistics, Illinois was the 2nd | 10 | | highest exporter of college freshmen in the country; as these | 11 | | students leave, they are not likely to return to Illinois; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, By 2018, experts predict that 64% of all jobs in | 13 | | Illinois will require post-secondary education, yet currently | 14 | | only 42% of working-age adults ages 25 to 64 in Illinois hold a | 15 | | 2 or 4-year college degree; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, It has been shown that State assistance does not | 17 | | reflect the true cost of higher education in Illinois; the | 18 | | Illinois Student Assistance Commission has reported that the | 19 | | Monetary Award Program currently serves about half the | 20 | | applicants who are eligible and covers about 35% of tuitions | 21 | | and fees at a public university in this State; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In 2002, the State was able to meet the needs of | 2 | | all eligible applications and fully covered average public | 3 | | university or community college tuition and fees; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, The average Monetary Award Program grant award | 5 | | covers only $2,700 of tuition and fees; therefore, be it
| 6 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 7 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 8 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Higher Education | 9 | | Affordability Task Force is created to study and make | 10 | | recommendations on higher education affordability and student | 11 | | retention, and to determine whether Illinois is doing an | 12 | | adequate job at capturing sufficient available federal grants | 13 | | for higher education; and be it further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That the Higher Education Affordability Task | 15 | | Force shall consist of the following members: | 16 | | (1) one member appointed by the Speaker of the Illinois | 17 | | House of Representatives; | 18 | | (2) one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the | 19 | | Illinois House of Representatives; | 20 | | (3) one member appointed by the President of the | 21 | | Illinois Senate; | 22 | | (4) one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the | 23 | | Illinois Senate; |
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| 1 | | (5) one member appointed by each President of every | 2 | | public university in the State of Illinois; | 3 | | (6) one member appointed by the Executive Director of | 4 | | the Illinois Student Assistance Commission; and | 5 | | (7) one member appointed by the Illinois Board of | 6 | | Higher Education; and be it further | 7 | | RESOLVED, That the Illinois Board of Higher Education shall | 8 | | provide administrative and other support to the Task Force; and | 9 | | be it further | 10 | | RESOLVED, That That the Task Force shall report its | 11 | | findings and recommendations to the General Assembly on or | 12 | | before January 1, 2016.
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