Unlike numerous other states nationwide, Illinois has in the past made a strong financial commitment to help high school graduates pay for college. Thanks to the our Monetary Award Program (MAP), one of the largest and most comprehensive need-based student aid programs in the country, 145,000 students statewide were given $384 million in interest-free grants last year to cover fees and tuition at any approved state college or university. Not surprisingly, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) saw a 30 percent jump in applications for the coming school year.

Unfortunately, the size of MAP grants hasn't kept pace with the rising cost of college. State funding for higher education has dropped 18 percent for public universities and 13 percent for community colleges in recent years. To compensate, schools have dragged more cash out of their students by way of tuition and fees to cover the bills. Grant sizes have not increased equally. The Institute for Government and Public Affairs calculates that between FY 1996 and FY 2001, the average MAP award for students in Illinois covered about 65 percent and 54 percent of overall tuition and fees for public universities and community colleges, respectively. That ratio has declined to around 40 percent in both sectors since. And now, under the state's proposed bare bones budget deficit, the entire program is in danger of being gutted. Peter Sachs at the Chi-Town Daily News has more:

Hundreds of millions of dollars in state financial aid funding for college students are up in the air amid massive budget cuts, and in a doomsday scenario, it could all run out by January. [...]

Under the worst-case scenario, students would only get $820 in aid for every $1,000 that had been promised for the fall semester, and no funding in the spring.

That last clause is the most unnerving. If the ISAC runs out of money come January 2010, students reliant on the grants would be forced to find help elsewhere, borrow more private money if they can, or leave college altogether. "There will be people for whom this represents," commission director Andrew Davis told the Pantagraph, "the straw that breaks the camel's back."

College Zone breaks down the impact by legislative district in a PDF here. Under the 50 percent budget, for example, 1,748 students would lose $3.7 million in Sen. Christine Radogno's district while 1,438 students would miss out on almost $2.6 million in House Speaker Michael Madigan's district. For a state looking to diversify and expand its economy, that's a big loss.

Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user quinn.anya.