Ikenberry Downsizes Projected U of I Tuition Hike

Interim President Stanley Ikenberry says he's lowered his own projections for how much tuition new students will go up at the University of Illinois next year. . Ikenberry says he's backed away from worst-case projections of 20% tuition increases, and is now projecting increases of 9 or 9.5%. He says that's because of success in reducing university spending, and because Governor Pat Quinn's proposed budget wouldn't chop the U of I's appropriation as severely as he feared. However, Ikenberry still expects the university to lose somewhere around $45 million in state funding, which he says would be a 6% reduction.

"The range of possibilities is pretty large out there", says Ikenberry. "But right now, at least in the short term, we think we can see the outlines of next year's budget. It's going to continue to be difficult, but we think manageable within the framework of a 9.5% increase."

U of I trustees are scheduled to vote on a tuition recommendation until their May 20th meeting in Chicago. But Ikenberry says he wanted to get his projections out now, to help students and parents.

"This is a tough time for students and parents", says Ikenberry. "So we're trying to make the decision as early as we can, so they have a basis to plan, but also to hold that number as low as we responsibly can make it."

Ikenberry says a 9.5% tuition increase can still be affordable when considering that it stays the same for students during their undergraduate enrollment. Over that period, he says the increase amounts to about 3.5% percent a year.

The increased tuition would come to about $10,337 a year at the Urbana campus, plus room and board. At the Chicago campus tuition would be about $9,092, and $8,068 in Springfield.

-- additional reporting from the Associated Press