This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Bill to Abolish Legislative Scholarship Program Signed into Law

State Rep. Sandra Pihos attended the bill signing on July 11 to abolish the General Assembly Scholarship Program. Pihos was a co-sponsor of the bill to eliminate the controversial program.

The practice of Illinois legislators giving constituents tuition waivers for use at State Universities has officially ended in Illinois.

State Rep. Sandra Pihos (R-Glen Ellyn) was in attendance at the Thompson Center in Chicago Wednesday morning as Governor Pat Quinn signed House Bill 3810 into law. “I am very pleased that this controversial program has come to an end,” said Pihos, a co-sponsor of the bill. “Our attempts over time to reform the program were not successful, and unfortunately some legislators continued to use the waivers as political perks for large donors or political allies.”

Over the last several years Pihos has sponsored bills to do away with the program, and her most recent bill had wide, bipartisan support and 49 sponsors. “Much of the language of my previous bills was included in House Bill 3810,” she said. “I’m glad the content of those bills was included in the final legislation.”

Find out what's happening in Glen Ellynwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

During the 2012 legislative session, the entire 24-member Republican Senate Caucus voluntarily walked away from the scholarship program, and in the House of Representatives, at least 38 of the 54 Republican members did not participate.

In addition to the scandals that plagued the program, Pihos said she felt it was not fair to place the unfunded mandate onto universities which were already experiencing significant delays and cuts in funding from the State. “When the waivers were given out, universities were forced to absorb the costs associated with those students’ tuition,” Pihos said. “The additional layer of financial stress has led to tuition increases at all of Illinois’ public universities.

Find out what's happening in Glen Ellynwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In 2011, 1,327 tuition waivers were awarded in Illinois, costing the state universities $13,508,800.  In addition to ending the program, the new law creates the Tuition and Fee Waiver Task Force to evaluate tuition and fee waiver programs offered by State universities to employees. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?