State university officials were grilled by lawmakers Tuesday. At issue is a record of lucrative severance packages for outgoing administrators.

Illinois' MAP grants — the monetary award program for low-income college students — would be available to more students if a bill approved by the legislature this month becomes law.

University of Illinois leaders are backing proposed legislation that would tie levels of state funding with performance metrics like awarding financial aid, graduation rates, and holding down tuition costs. President Tim Killeen says the 5-year pact would guarantee ‘baseline’ state funding would increase by the rate of inflation during each remaining year.

University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen is again pushing a plan for the state to agree to multi-year budget for the school in exchange for controls on tuition increases and other benchmarks. He previously discussed the idea as a way to provide financial stability as the state continues to struggle with its budget crisis. The president will discuss the legislation in Thursday's U of I Trustees meeting.

Legislation filed Wednesday asks the state of Illinois to provide $168 million in tuition for low-income college students who were promised MAP grants last fall.