U of I Trustees Debate Tuition Hike

State owes school $464 million in payments

The University of Illinois is in a budget hole with just one means for climbing out: hike rates.

That's just what they're going to do.

Trustees who oversee the University of Illinois' three campuses are expected to approve a sharp increase in tuition for new students.

At a meeting Thursday in Chicago they will consider a 9.5 percent increase as a way of raising money.

The tuition hike is necessary because the state of Illinois owes the university nearly $464 million in payments. The government says it can't pay because of a $13 billion budget deficit.

If approved the increase would push tuition for new students to $10,386 a year at the Urbana-Champaign campus, $9,134 in Chicago and $8,108.50 in Springfield.

The 9.5 percent increase is markedly easier to swallow than a proposed 20-percent increase that was floated late last year, but still will affect pocketbooks.

At the meeting, trustees also will consider a contract that would pay new university President Michael Hogan $620,000 a year. Hogan recently announced that he would leave his post at University of Connecticut to take over the helm of U of I.

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Copyright AP - Associated Press
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