Lake County Gazette

At a time when many students are uncertain about college tuition and attending school in Illinois, leaders of some of state universities are receiving thousands of dollars in bonuses.

 

University of Illinois trustees recently approved $175,000 in performance bonuses for two of its top administrators. Martin Blumenthal, the Republican candidate running for the District 58 state House seat, said he finds this incredulous.

Martin Blumenthal | Contributed photo

 

“Some of these university (leaders) are making hundreds of thousands of dollars, and now they are getting bonuses of $100,000 or $75,000,” Blumenthal told the Lake County Gazette. “And people wonder why they can’t afford tuition and the decline of enrollment.”

 

University of Illinois’ President Timothy Killeen will receive $100,000, while University of Illinois at Chicago Chancellor Michael Amiridis will get $75,000. The bonuses are based on their performance during their first year at their universities.

 

The decision to award bonuses has faced criticism as many universities struggle amid uncertain state funding and falling enrollment.

 

“University of Illinois is doing okay, but everyone else, their enrollment has been down quite a lot because of the fear of the lack of funding from the state,” Blumenthal said.

 

Regional public universities statewide are experiencing steep enrollment declines, with freshman rates dropping to as low as 25 percent in some areas from the previous year.

 

Many students are uncertain about their futures in the state and, due to the lack of confidence in the state’s fiscal situation, they are enrolling at out-of-state universities. Some are finding it to be more cost-effective to attend schools in neighboring states.

 

The state may lose more than just students, Blumenthal said. It also may lose potential engineers, scientists, doctors, artists and entrepreneurs.

 

Blumenthal said he considers this worrisome.

 

“A lot of them are going out of state because of the attractive financial aid packages,” Blumenthal said. “That’s a problem because a lot of these students go out of state, they like where they went to school and they end up staying there and getting jobs. There is a brain drain here.”

 

Losing highly qualified working individuals puts businesses in a predicament when trying to find good hires.

 

“As we lose more talented and qualified people, employers will have to look elsewhere for employees,” Blumenthal said.

 

The state already has experienced a mass out-migration of millennials and prime working-age adults ages 25 to 54. In fact, between July 2005 and July 2015, Illinois lost 310,000 prime working adults due to net migration. These are adults who are not just taxpayers and contributors to the state, but also adults who are willing to start families.

This loss of population erodes the tax base and places a heavier tax burden on those choosing to stay in Illinois, Blumenthal said.

“It’s going to have the same effect we have been experiencing the last 10 years with businesses leaving,” Blumenthal said. “The more businesses leave, the more jobs they take with them. The jobs they take with them (leads to) less people paying taxes here, raising families or going to school here. It’s a vicious cycle.”