University of Illinois

Senate Higher Education Appropriations Committee

Testimony
President B. Joseph White
University of Illinois
April 3, 2008

Senator Hunter, Senator Sullivan, Senator Althoff and members of the Committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you today. More important, thank you for your support of the University of Illinois.

First, I want on behalf of the University of Illinois family to note with sorrow the tragic event at Northern Illinois University. We are all grateful to President John Peters for his leadership during this ordeal.

I would like later to hear your thoughts and answer your questions on this most serious matter.

Fiscal Year 2008 has been a remarkable year at the University of Illinois in ways I could enumerate. But in deference to Senator Hunter's request for brevity, let me focus on two things: students and finances.

We educate 70,000 young people across our three campuses and on-line at a time when a college education is, for many people, a necessary condition to achieve their dreams and contribute fully to society. Our student body comprises over 10,000 African American and Latino students and, as the Sun-Times pointed out Monday, about 5,000 students from over 100 nations around the world. The diversity of our student body is a key ingredient of the greatness of the University of Illinois.

The international students are overwhelmingly in graduate programs. They are strongly represented in science and engineering. Regrettably, not enough U.S. students are choosing this tough path of study.

At the undergraduate level, 88% of our students in Urbana — and more in Chicago and Springfield — are from Illinois. Ours is a far higher percentage of resident students than in most top public research universities in America. Over the last ten years, we have increased resident enrollment by 12% and non-resident enrollment by just 1%.

Outstanding international students not only pay top dollar to attend Illinois, they help us attract the top students from Illinois — and top faculty from around the world. They are essential in our student mix if we want U of I to continue to be top — a world class university here in Illinois.

On the matter of finances, let me note that we do more than $600 million a year in competitively won grant and contract research at a time when knowledge is the key to solving the problems about which we are most concerned: energy, the environment, food, health, even happiness. We deliver university quality health care to thousands, including the poor, in Chicago and do more than any institution to prepare tomorrow's doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and veterinarians for the state. Indeed, our Board recently adopted a resolution called "Health Returns: The Illinois Bill of Health," urging us to secure $50 million in additional operating funds over the next five years to educate health care professionals, without which health care coverage will be an empty promise.

In terms of the positive economic impact of U of I, no one should miss the lesson of what happened when Motorola, under business duress, had to close its 125-person operation in the U. of I. Research Park in Champaign late last year. In towns across our state, when manufacturing operations close down, plants are shuttered and stay shuttered, devastating communities. By contrast, a month after Motorola's decision to close, Yahoo announced its intention to open in Champaign. They moved into the Research Park, hired most of the Motorola employees, and life went on. This is the power of educated people and research in the global knowledge and information economy. We need much more of this in Illinois to have a prosperous future for our children and our state. U. of I. is the key to achieving it.

Continuing with a focus on finances, we are doing our very best to maintain the quality of the University of Illinois and ensure that it is accessible and affordable. This is difficult because quality costs and there is a teeter-totter relationship between state operating support and tuition and fee increases. This was evident yet again in our Board's tuition decision last week. An $800 per year increase was approved, bringing the total cost of attendance (tuition, fees, room and board) at the Urbana campus to over $20,000 for the first time. To enable access, financial aid was raised proportionately. I was asked by Spike O'Dell on WGN Monday morning what message I have for families in the face of such costs. My answer was: don't let anything stand in the way of your children getting the education they need. Save. Seek financial aid. If necessary, go to junior college, then come to U of I to complete your bachelor's degree. These are hard but honest messages.

I want to mention the vital importance of capital to U. of I. and all of us in higher education. We've been a long time without it. The needs are urgent. I deeply hope that you and your colleagues can forge an agreement on capital in the upcoming session.

Let me finish by noting that we have been successful in forging a resource Compact to fund the University of Illinois in the face of fiscal realities. The state continues to play a vital role in this Compact, along with our students and their families, our research faculty, private donors, and the administration through careful cost management. I have launched a Resources Initiative intended to ensure that we get every possible dollar to the academic front lines and out of central administration and lower priority activities. We depend on the state for operating support, payment of employee benefits, and capital. The more you help us, the more confident we can be that the University of Illinois will continue to be excellent, affordable, and accessible — and the state's most valuable asset.

Again, thank you. I welcome your comments and questions.