IIlinois Gov. Pat Quinn led a student rally on the plaza behind the Illini Union on Oct. 7 to demonstrate support for restoring state funding for the Monetary Award Program, Illinois’ primary need-based financial-aid program. The rally was the sixth so far in the state, organized by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which administers the MAP and other financial aid and student-loan programs.
The rally and subsequent public hearing were part of a statewide effort to persuade the Illinois General Assembly to reinstate MAP funding for the spring 2010 semester during the fall veto sessions, scheduled for Oct. 14-16 and Oct. 28-30 in Springfield.
Faced with a $10 billion gap in the state budget for fiscal year 2010, which began July 1, Illinois lawmakers cut MAP funding in half, from $400 to $200 million, and disbursed all of the money during the fall 2009 semester, leaving students with nothing for the spring 2010 semester.
About 138,000 Illinois students – including about 5,700 students at the UI’s Urbana campus – receive MAP grants, according to Daniel Mann, director of the Office of Student Financial Aid.
The commission sponsored the rallies and public hearings as part of its “Save Illinois MAP Grants” campaign, aimed at mobilizing students, parents and educators to lobby their state legislators.
Several students from the UI and Parkland College spoke to the crowd about how vital the grants are to helping low-income students get college educations.
According to the commission, 47 percent of MAP recipients come from households with annual incomes of less than $20,000, and 30 percent are from households that make less than $40,000 annually.
The student speakers included Edward Washington, 19, a UI freshman in political science, who grew up in Bellwood, Ill., and is pursuing his dream of becoming a lawyer; Kimberly Nunley, an emancipated ward of the state, who now, at age 26, is struggling to raise three children under the age of 10 while pursuing a degree at Parkland College; and Brian Schmidt, 22, of Lemont, Ill., a senior at the UI who is majoring in aerospace engineering. The grants are crucial because their families have limited means to help with the costs associated with college – not only tuition and fees, but books, living expenses, health care and even child care for some.
“For many students, the MAP grant is the deciding factor on whether or not they can attend college,” Washington said. “We need to reinstate the MAP grant because taking it away will violate one of the most sacred principles of this country – equal opportunity. It is the principle that no matter where you come from or what your background is, if you work hard you can achieve your dreams. Education should not be restricted to the wealthy.”
Quinn urged people to “use the power of democracy” and sign petitions that were circulating in the crowd as well as an online petition. He also encouraged supporters to contact their legislators.
Quinn vowed not to let the General Assembly leave Springfield until it appropriated funds for the spring semester grants – and earmarked appropriations permanently for the program so that students wouldn’t be left in the lurch again.
“You are the future,” Quinn told the students. “Illinois needs smart people who can move the economy forward.
“Jobs follow brainpower. And we’ve got to have people who can invent new products, start new businesses and go in and do complex jobs and carry them out with distinction – and thousands and thousands of Illinois graduates have done just that.”
Members of the Illinois Student Senate presented Quinn with a resolution – which was passed unanimously by the Urbana-Champaign faculty-student senate at its Oct. 5 meeting – that called upon Quinn and the General Assembly to restore the MAP funding so that students could be assured they could continue their educations in the spring.
At a Sept. 29 rally at the Chicago campus, Quinn was presented with a similar resolution passed by the UIC Senate. At UIC, more than 6,050 students received MAP grants for the fall semester.
Rallies also were held or were scheduled at Carl Sandburg College, Loyola University and Northwestern University and at Southern Illinois University’s Carbondale and Edwardsville campuses. Quinn also encouraged students to attend a rally scheduled for Oct. 15 at the state capitol.
Quinn has suggested funding the grants by raising the tobacco tax by $1.
