Illinoisans express views on higher education
CHICAGO — While a large majority of Illinoisans say higher education is very important to achieve success, most of them believe the state's colleges and universities are good but not great, according to a survey conducted for the University of Illinois. 
On the other hand, a substantial majority of respondents support investing more state money in higher education, even if it means investing less in other areas.
The survey, conducted by Knowledge Networks for the University of Illinois' Higher Education Summit, found that only about 11 percent of Illinoisans believe the quality of education at public four-year colleges and universities is excellent.
At the same time, about 73 percent of Illinois residents view a college education as very important to achieving success, but are worried about rising tuition costs. Only about 44 percent believe the value of higher education is worth the cost.
The Higher Education Summit brings together leaders from government, business, civic organizations and education in a discussion of higher education's role in the state. More than 160 were registered for Tuesday's meeting at the Chicago Cultural Center.
The summit is sponsored by the Office of the Chancellor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IGPA, the U. of I. College of Media, and the Forum on the Future of Public Education at the Urbana-Champaign campus.
The survey of 1,143 Illinoisans over the age of 18 was conducted May 5-22 by Knowledge Networks, which used a randomly recruited online research panel that is demographically representative of the state's population. The survey has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 5.25 percentage points.
"Colleges and universities are key to building a secure future for young people, Illinois communities and the economy," said U. of I. President Emeritus Stanley O. Ikenberry, one of the organizers of Tuesday's summit. "Our survey results are likely to trigger a spirited conversation about where higher education stands in this state and what needs to be done to move forward."
The survey indicated that Illinoisans believe lowering tuition and fees and offering more financial aid to needy students should be priorities if the state invests more in colleges and universities. But the survey also indicated that improving buildings, expanding programs, funding more research that benefits local economic development, and building capacity to enroll more students all ranked lower in the survey's priority listing.
"There appears to be a real disconnect between the public's priorities for investment in higher education and the priorities sometimes proposed." Rich said.
The full survey will be available at www.igpa.uillinois.edu orhttp://theforum.ed.uiuc.edu.
Editor's note: To contact Stanley Ikenberry, call 217-265-5409. To contact Robert Rich, call 217-244-8550 or 217-493-9345.
