December 2003

Economics faculty members Jan Brueckner and J. Fred Giertz were published on the op-ed pages of the Chicago Sun-Times this month in their piece entitled "Harsh cuts could lead to a U. of I. degree in mediocrity." The authors document their statement that:

"...The impact on higher education has been especially severe in Illinois, with budget cuts larger and tuition increases smaller than in most other states. As a result, Illinois is on the brink of doing serious damage to its system of higher education, especially to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, its flagship institution. This damage could undo generations of effort that have made it one of the nation's premier universities."

The full article is online at the Chicago Sun-Times site. The accompanying graphic, comparing the University of Illinois funding to other Big Ten schools is not included in the Sun-Times site.