A few years ago, when he was going to Yorkville High School, Matt Pitstick saw college recruiters roaming his school who surprised him and made his friends laugh. They were recruiters from a university more than 700 miles away: the University of Alabama.

DeKalb County Board Member Misty Haji-Sheikh is suing Northern Illinois University over outgoing-President Doug Baker's more-than-$600,000 severance package.

James Applegate, executive director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, says low-income students who rely on the state's Monetary Award Program (better known as MAP) are bearing the brunt of the current budget impasse.

Illinois' nine public university presidents say in a letter to Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative leaders that a failure to approve a budget soon could leave higher education damaged beyond repair.  
 

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.