Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series taking a closer look at the rising tuition rates at the University.

When the University of Illinois Board of Trustees voted to increase tuition by nearly 10 percent in March, several trustees placed the burden squarely on the shoulders of the state government they said had failed the higher education system.

In a year when the state finds itself amid a $750 million deficit, legislators and educators alike believe that state funding for higher education in Illinois has failed to meet the fiscal needs of public universities in recent years.

“The past few years have been very difficult when it comes to state funding for higher education,” said Carrie Hightman, chairwoman of the Illinois Board of Higher Education. “We’re at a crossroads in Illinois. Either we decide to invest in higher education or we don’t.”

In 2008, the state allocated approximately $2.2 billion for higher education, far less than most other states. Since 2002, the University has lost a total of $106 million in state funding, said W. Randall Kangas, assistant vice president for planning and budgeting at the University.

As a result, tuition at the University exceeds the national average for public institutions.

A year of attendance at one of Illinois’ public universities during the 2006-2007 school year cost, on average, $9,882 in tuition and fees. The national average was nearly a third less, at $6,608. Since that time, the price of attendance at the University has increased, pushing the total cost of in-state tuition and fees to $12,230.

In its 2006 biennial state higher education report card, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gave Illinois an “F” for college affordability.

Various legislators said the lack of state funding is due in large part to a political deadlock between Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the General Assembly.

State Rep. Richard Meyers, R-Macomb, sits on both the House Appropriation Higher Education Committee and the Higher Education Committee. The state’s current lack of higher education financing, he said, is the result of poor financial planning on Blagojevich’s part.

“The legislature, up until we had this governor, always put a fair amount of funding into higher education,” Meyers said. “This governor has only budgeted very small, if any, increases for different universities.”

Multiple phone calls to the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget were not returned.

“These universities need to generate revenue somewhere, and they’re being forced to do it by passing the costs off to the students in the form of tuition,” Meyers said.

Former Illinois governor Jim Edgar said higher education funding trouble has a deceptively simple solution.

“You have to raise taxes and axe spending,” said Edgar, a fellow at the University’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs. “These are the two most unpopular things you can do in elected office.”

The state budget for higher education has been in a holding pattern for the past three years, but major reductions took place within the last decade.

In 2002, the University received $803.6 million from the state. However, the state of Illinois decreased funding and reclaimed previously allotted funds over the subsequent two years.

Kangas said tuition concerns are not the state’s highest priority when it allocates money to the University system.

“What money there has been is going to benefits, retirement, and student assistance,” he said.

The state usually gives the University an annual operating budget as well as capital for projects like renovation and construction, but the University has not received the extra funding for several years, Kangas said.

“The state has been unable to come to terms on capital priorities,” he said. “The problem is not having not enough priorities, but not having enough budget to pay for it.”

The University has received much of the criticism for raising tuition on a yearly basis, but University Provost Linda Katehi said state funding is also to blame. She said inaction in the state government hurts the University as much as budget cuts do.

“This uncertainty going from one year to another is killing us,” Katehi said. “We need a commitment from the state year to year.”