All is not pleasant in the Land of Lincoln. I have friends who teach at the University of Illinois where I used to work on the faculty. Even when I was there, they continually sought cost cutting measures to survive. They consolidated departments and either cut or did not renew administrative positions. Administrative support staff went to a third or quarter of what it was in just a few years. They kept talking about salary freezes and shut-downs due to budget impasses at the State Government. They are currently without a budget and threats of the same remain.

Another friend works in the Admissions office. There are record numbers of students coming in despite talking about putting a cap on enrollment. Buildings are still going up and diversification of revenue is ongoing. They are trying to attract large companies to enter in the Research Park for collaboration and student mentorship. Yet despite all of this, there is so much fiscal unrest.

The community college in town has frozen employment. I keep tabs on this since I would like to teach a few classes if I can. Yet they keep expanding and student numbers rise. Tuition rises and academic incentives decrease. The effects of the State budget impasse and possibly poor management internally at the colleges is causing havoc in the system of higher education.

Yet, politicians talk about free tuition, absolving student debt, and other freebies that make no sense at all at a fiscal level. These politicians have no clue what it takes to run education, let alone a country. I’m not sure how you pay professors who put so much into their own education. I was lucky in that my doctoral education only took 12 years of study. Some in liberal arts take much longer. That is 12 years when I am not contributing dollars to society or making money toward retirement. If I became a carpenter or plumber out of high school, I would have much more toward retirement from the git go. It makes you wonder what education is worth if you don’t reap benefits from all that work. We raise tuition, we try to raise salaries of professors to get the best and brightest in the world, and we try to make living on campus attractive as possible. Yet, somehow politicians think all of this comes out of thin air. I really don’t get it.