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Carl Sandburg College Untouched by Rauner's Budget Proposal

T.J. Carson
Student tuition and fees are the other main sources of revenue for Carl Sandburg College

Carl Sandburg College is cautiously optimistic about where they may stand after Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner’s budget address.

Rauner proposed increases in funding for elementary and high school education in the state and cuts in university funding. Community colleges may be in a different boat.

Sandburg Chief Financial Officer Lisa Blake said Rauner proposed keeping funding for  community colleges flat, meaning they will receive about the same amount of money.

Blake said that's an improvement over previous years. “There’s always concerns, but being flat funded is certainly better than facing large cuts,” Blake said. “Right now, we feel pretty lucky that we’re in the position we’re in.”

Blake said around 22% of its funding comes from the state. Blake added the college is always looking at where it spends its money too, in case cuts do come.

“We look at what kind of retirements we have, attrition, what kind of programs are still popular attended.  So a lot of times, it may be a change in programming, as opposed to cuts to staff,” Blake said.