I'm not going to be triggered by this. I'm going to remain calm, mindful and have a cup of warm tea.
Illinois’s Plan to Fund Public Universities on the Basis of Race
Schools with abysmal graduation rates would get more money simply for enrolling minorities.
By Neetu Arnold, WSJ
May 3, 2024 2:28 pm ET
The Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., June 19, 2012. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Many Americans are fed up with the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that have proliferated on college campuses and in the workplace. These programs fixate on identity over objectivity and excellence. But despite the backlash, DEI advocates haven’t given up. In Illinois, lawmakers want to embed racial considerations into state appropriations for public universities.
In 2021 Illinois lawmakers established a commission to come up with ways to make appropriations to state universities more “equitable.” The commission, consisting of lawmakers, university officials and members of advocacy groups, released a report in March that proposes to tie state appropriations to each university’s ability to achieve outcomes “grounded in equity.” The commission wants to provide universities incentives “to enroll underrepresented and historically underserved student groups, including students who are Black, Latinx, or from low-income families.” If fully implemented, the plan would cost Illinois taxpayers $1.4 billion annually.
Under the Illinois Commission on Equitable Public University Funding’s proposals, lawmakers would determine how much funding a school deserves. They would do this using a variable called the “adequacy target,” which takes into account the school’s mission and enrollment as well as the programs it offers. The state would pay to help universities increase enrollment of minority, low-income and rural students. Larger amounts would be set aside for groups the commission considers underenrolled—say, with a $6,000 bonus for each enrolled black student, $4,000 for each enrolled low-income student and $2,000 for each enrolled rural student.
Next, the commission would calculate the university’s “resource profile,” or its available funds to cover operating costs. The adequacy target minus the university’s resource profile equals the amount each school should additionally receive from the state government, according to the commission.
As part of the resource-profile calculation, the commission would use a new concept called “equitable student share,” which represents how much universities can hypothetically expect to receive in tuition from students based on racial characteristics. This is where things get strange: The commission pretends that universities charge different prices for different races. Specifically, the plan wants lawmakers to assume that universities will charge minority students a lower tuition rate than whites and Asians, regardless of income. This won’t happen in practice, as the commission knows. It’s simply a justification for paying higher subsidies for minority enrollment.
Illinois’s plan is part of a growing movement to inject equity into state funding models for universities. The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association issued a request for a proposal in 2023 to study equity funding in state appropriations research. Education researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which boasts one of the nation’s top education schools, released a report this year in support of equity-based state funding models. Illinois’s model was informed by programs in five other states, including Louisiana and Oregon, whose formulas explicitly consider race. Illinois lawmakers also turned to the state’s equity-based funding model for K-12 schools to guide the formula for state universities.
Equity-based state appropriation enshrines racial discrimination into government policy. Before the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in 2023, this model would have encouraged Illinois universities to implement or expand racial considerations in admissions. While affirmative action is now unlawful, the funding scheme itself may be a violation of civil-rights law.
Illinois’s plan would allocate certain universities more state funds per student based on race. Holding other factors constant, universities that have significant black student populations would receive more state funds per student than those that enroll large numbers of Asian-Americans. This unequal distribution of funding is a potential violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The Education Department has specifically called out such violations. In 2014, officials from the department’s Office of Civil Rights wrote a “dear colleague” letter informing the nation’s K-12 schools that “under Title VI, intentional discrimination in allocating educational resources on the basis of race, color, or national origin is unlawful.”
Equity-based funding plans keep subpar schools around. Consider Northeastern Illinois University, which receives almost $37 million in state appropriations. The new formula would grant the university an additional $99 million in state funds—even though only 47% of its students graduate within eight years.
Those in favor of equitable funding schemes, including the Illinois commission, argue that more state investment would increase completion rates because students would have access to higher-quality programs. But pouring more money into colleges and universities won’t fix years of poor academic preparation.
Chicago State University doesn’t require applicants to submit standardized test scores. As a result, it has struggled with abysmal graduation rates for years. The latest available federal data show that Chicago State graduates a third of its students in eight years.
Public funds should be used for public benefits. Taxpayers expect their money to help prepare college graduates to contribute to the economy. Universities that fail to graduate their students on time rob both the students and taxpayers. Schools like Northeastern Illinois and Chicago State should receive less subsidies, not more.
Illinois lawmakers and higher-education institutions continue the cycle of impoverishment by enticing unprepared students to attend college. These students would be better off joining the trades, which offer plenty of opportunities for upward mobility. Should Illinois get away with this equitable funding scheme, lawmakers will effectively have institutionalized racism.
Ms. Arnold is a research fellow at the National Association of Scholars and a Young Voices contributor.