EIU Seeking $6 Million In Cuts

Declining enrollment at Eastern Illinois University is forcing the school to seek out about $6-million in cuts.  But an administrator says the school in Charleston has yet to identify where those cuts will be made.

Interim Vice President for Business Services Paul McCann said a lot of would-be students have been looking elsewhere, including the University of Illinois.

“We’ve got community colleges that are after more of our first and second year folks, we’ve got the U of I, that needs to fill their enrollment also," he said.  "We’ve got a lot of things, and have to be more competitive.”

McCann said EIU’s enrollment has dropped about 25-percent since 2009, dropping to just over 9,000 students.

McCann expects nearly $4-million in cuts to be in personnel, and not in academics.  Other areas are to be determined.  The cuts were approved by EIU Trustees at their meeting Friday as part of the 2015 fiscal budget.

Meanwhile, McCann said in-state tuition at Eastern Illinois has gone up about $25-hundred annually in roughly the same time span – although EIU Trustees froze those rates for the next academic year.

An incoming freshman this fall will pay about $85-hundred.