Southeastern Illinois College will get money, but less than before

HARRISBURG - As Southeastern Illinois College President Jonah Rice looked over budget numbers in preparation of his college's board of trustees meeting Tuesday afternoon, he offered what he calls an "interesting perspective" on state funding for the community college.

"When I was first hired in 1990, the state portion of our budget was $3.9 million," Rice said.

He is an alumnus of SIC, a member of the college's first national championship speech team and began his educational career there as a humanities instructor. To say he cares deeply about the college's well-being is an understatement.

"With the budget passed, we've been told that the amount we'll receive is based on the 2015 budget, less 10 percent," he said. "That's $4.1 million, which means we've had no growth in that regard."

While Rice finds the numbers interesting, by no means does he disparage the state's budget agreement.

"At least we have the guarantee of an appropriation, and that's a good thing," he said. "We have been told by the Illinois Community Colleges Board that we'll be filing invoices with the comptroller's office, and that money won't come overnight. We still have to practice wise cash flow management."

On Thursday, state Comptroller Susan Mendoza announced she was releasing about $500 million to higher education institutions. Community colleges are to receive about $36 million of that money. It had been more than seven months since any college in Illinois had received state funding.

Rice said the current status of the college is much better today than it was about two years ago, when the state withheld nearly $2 million in funding from SIC.

The college was able to persevere, though, and now Rice said he's looking forward to the return of funding for Monetary Award Program grants. As part of the new budget, MAP funding is set to increase by about 10 percent, Rice said.

"It will make SIC - already a very affordable choice in higher education - that much more affordable again," he said. "This is a gift for a lot of struggling students who didn't get their state support."