Communications Regarding State Budget Appropriations

Chair Ford, Vice Chair Meyers-Martin, Minority Spokesperson Severin and members of the committee.

I’m Lisa Freeman, president of Northern Illinois University.

With me today are Laurie Elish-Piper, executive vice president and provost, and George Middlemist, vice president for Administration and Finance and CFO. We appreciate your continued partnership and support of our students and our mission.  

There is great energy on our campus.

This past fall, NIU saw increased overall enrollment, and fall’s positive momentum carried into the spring semester, where we achieved our largest spring enrollment in five years.

Enrollment gains were driven by significant growth in new students, up 22% in freshmen and 11% in transfer students. Even more encouraging, our combined reenrollment rate for freshmen, transfers and continuing students is the highest in over 25 years of record-keeping.

In fact, over the past four years, NIU’s overall first-to-second-year retention rate for first-time, full-time students has increased by 8%. Importantly, equity gaps narrowed as retention rates increased by 8% for first generation students, 11% for Pell-eligible students and 12% for students who identify as Black or African American.

Our enrollment and student success outcomes demonstrate what can be achieved with intentional investment in enrollment management, academic and non-academic student support services and technology. 

NIU students are connecting with what matters most:

• Excellent academic programs with proven career outcomes.
• Life-changing opportunities inside and outside the classroom.
• And a community where they feel they belong.

Our talented faculty and staff make this possible, and their work has earned NIU significant national recognition.

In 2025, NIU was named one of five finalists nationwide for the Excellence in Student Success Award by APLU, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. We also earned a place on the Phi Theta Kappa Transfer Honor Roll for our strong support of community college transfer students; and were recognized by UPCEA (the Online and Professional Education Association) for our efforts to advance the success of adult and non-traditional learners.

Within the last month, NIU earned re-designation as a Community Engaged Institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American Council on Education, and as an Innovation and Prosperity University by APLU.

And just this past week, for the second consecutive year an NIU undergraduate was announced as a recipient of a 2026 Goldwater Scholarship, the preeminent undergraduate award for students planning STEM research careers.

These recognitions affirm that NIU delivers results for students and for the state through access and excellence.

NIU is a sound investment for Illinois taxpayers. For every $1 the State of Illinois invests in NIU, we generate approximately $12 in economic activity. That return includes workforce preparation, job creation, research impact and regional economic development.

We are focused on aligning academic excellence with workforce needs, and doing this in ways that reflect our broader commitment to flexible course options, innovative program delivery and meeting students where they are. For example, we are particularly proud of the new part-time law program that we are launching in Fall 2027 in Naperville to expand access for students who cannot relocate or attend full time because of work or family responsibilities.  

NIU has achieved positive outcomes while also prioritizing access and affordability, and we will continue to do so with adequate support from the state.

We appreciate Gov. Pritzker’s continued investment in higher education during a tough fiscal environment filled with uncertainty. However, the fact that the proposed 1% increase in appropriations does not keep up with the rate of inflation creates a challenging budget environment for all Illinois public universities—particularly institutions like NIU that embrace and execute on their public mission by serving students who are first-generation, Pell-eligible and from under-resourced school districts and underserved communities.   

The economic competitiveness of Illinois depends on our state’s ability to attract, retain and develop talent. We lose when Illinois students choose to pursue higher education out of state. We also lose when socioeconomic barriers prevent Illinois students from matching their talent with the opportunity for higher education at our public universities.

For the past several years, only 13% of Illinois high school seniors enrolled as freshmen in Illinois public colleges and universities the following fall. Many more of these students aspire to higher education and have the potential and ability to succeed. For example, in Fall 2025 at NIU, there were more than 2,800 students who applied with an academic record that warranted admission and then chose not to enroll at NIU or any other institution of higher education.

Working together, we have an opportunity to increase attainment, uplift communities and strengthen the Illinois economy. That’s why NIU strongly supports adoption of the proposed higher education funding formula: a framework that addresses long-standing inequities in Illinois’ higher education funding and provides a more predictable, evidence-based approach to aligning state resources with institutional needs and student success priorities.

NIU is on a strong trajectory. Enrollment and student success outcomes are trending positively. National recognition is increasing. Our return on investment for the state is clear.

With your continued support, we can continue delivering the access, excellence and economic mobility that Illinois families expect and deserve.

Thank you for your time, your leadership and your partnership in strengthening higher education across our state.

Chair Halpin, Vice Chair Guzmán, Minority Spokesperson Balkema and members of the committee: Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.

I’m Lisa Freeman, president of Northern Illinois University.

With me today are Laurie Elish-Piper, executive vice president and provost, and George Middlemist, vice president for Administration and Finance and CFO. We appreciate your continued partnership and support of our students and our mission.  

There is great energy on our campus.

This past fall, NIU saw increased overall enrollment (16,078), and fall’s positive momentum carried into the spring semester, where we achieved our largest spring enrollment in five years.

Enrollment gains were driven by significant growth in new freshmen and transfer students, along with strong reenrollment among continuing students.

Specifically, in Fall 2025, we welcomed 2,435 new freshmen—an increase of 22% year over year—and 1,622 new transfer students, up 11%.

Even more encouraging, our combined reenrollment rate for freshmen, transfers and continuing students is the highest in over 25 years of record-keeping.

In fact, over the past four years, NIU’s overall first-to-second-year retention rate for first-time full-time students has increased by 8%. Importantly, over this period, retention rates increased by 8% for first generation students, 11% for Pell-eligible students and 12% for students who identify as Black or African American.

Our enrollment and student success outcomes demonstrate what can be achieved with intentional investment in enrollment management, academic and non-academic student support services and technology. 

The results also reflect public confidence in NIU’s value and impact—confidence that NIU students are connecting with what matters most:

• Excellent academic programs with proven career outcomes.
• Life-changing opportunities inside and outside the classroom.
• And a community where they feel they belong.

Our talented faculty and staff make this possible through their commitment to teaching, mentoring, research, creative activity and community engagement, and their work has earned NIU significant national recognition.

In 2025, NIU was named one of five finalists nationwide for the Excellence in Student Success Award by APLU, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. We also earned a place on the Phi Theta Kappa Transfer Honor Roll for our strong support of community college transfer students; and were recognized by UPCEA (the Online and Professional Education Association) for our efforts to advance the success of adult and non-traditional learners.

Within the last month, NIU earned re-designation as a Community Engaged Institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American Council on Education, and as an Innovation and Prosperity University by APLU.

These recognitions affirm that NIU delivers results for students and for the state. For every $1 the State of Illinois invests in NIU, we generate approximately $12 in economic activity. That return includes workforce preparation, job creation, research impact and regional economic development. NIU is a sound investment for Illinois taxpayers.

We are focused on aligning academic excellence with workforce needs. We are strengthening partnerships with employers, expanding experiential learning opportunities and ensuring that graduates leave NIU not only with degrees but also with the skills and experiences that Illinois’ economy demands.

And we are doing this in ways that reflect our broader commitment to flexible course options, innovative program delivery and meeting students where they are.

We are particularly proud of the new part-time law program that we are launching in Fall 2027 in Naperville to expand access for students who cannot relocate or attend full time because of work or family responsibilities.  

NIU achieved positive outcomes while also prioritizing access and affordability, and we will continue to do so with adequate support from the state.

We appreciate Gov. Pritzker’s continued investment in higher education during a tough fiscal environment filled with uncertainty. However, the fact that the proposed 1% increase in appropriations does not keep up with the rate of inflation creates a challenging budget environment for all Illinois state public universities—particularly institutions like NIU that embrace and execute on their public mission by serving students who are first-generation, Pell-eligible, rural and from under-resourced school districts and underserved communities.   

The economic competitiveness of Illinois depends on our state’s ability to attract, retain and develop talent. We lose when Illinois students choose to pursue higher education out of state. We also lose when socioeconomic barriers prevent Illinois students from matching their talent with the opportunity for higher education at our public universities.

For the past several years, the number of high school seniors enrolled in Illinois was about 150,000, and only about 20,000 of those students enrolled as freshmen in Illinois public colleges and universities the following fall. Many more of these students aspire to higher education and have the potential and ability to succeed. For example, in Fall 2025 at NIU, there were more than 2,800 students who applied with an academic record that warranted admission and then chose not to enroll at NIU or any other institution of higher education.

Working together, we have an opportunity to increase attainment, uplift communities and strengthen the Illinois economy. That’s why NIU strongly supports adoption of the proposed higher education funding formula that addresses long-standing inequities in Illinois’ higher education funding system. The framework provides a more predictable, evidence-based approach to aligning state resources with institutional needs and student success priorities. We believe this model represents an important step toward long-term stability and fairness in public university funding.

NIU also supports ongoing efforts to modernize outdated statutory and regulatory requirements that create unnecessary administrative burden, complicate compliance and divert resources from student success. Modernizing these requirements is a fiscally responsible strategy that will help institutions maintain stability and remain focused on our educational mission during a period of economic uncertainty.

Finally, timely execution of state-funded capital projects remains a critical priority.

We appreciate Gov. Pritzker’s inclusion of $300 million for deferred maintenance projects. We hope for inclusion of these funds in the final budget, along with timely release and clear allocation criteria.

NIU still has not received $34 million of its allocated $52.9 million capital renewal funds from FY20, causing the university to assume prolonged risks associated with aging infrastructure.   

Furthermore, since FY20, there have been repeated delays in the execution timelines for our new building projects: the Baustert Bahwell Health Technology Center and the Northern Illinois Center for Community Sustainability. As a result, these projects have been negatively impacted, experiencing diminished purchasing power, forced reductions in project scope and increased long-term costs.

To avoid these outcomes, we urge consideration of a hybrid project-delivery model that would authorize universities with demonstrated procurement and construction management capacity to execute appropriate capital and renewal projects directly, and allow the Illinois Capital Development Board to focus on the most complex statewide undertakings. This approach, proposed in SB2429 (and HB2930), would accelerate project timelines, protect taxpayer investment and ensure that capital dollars translate into timely improvements that enhance student safety, accessibility and academic excellence.

To summarize, NIU is on a strong trajectory. Enrollment and student success outcomes are trending positively. National recognition is increasing. Our return on investment for the state is clear.

With your continued support—through adoption of a more equitable funding framework, through regulatory modernization and through improved capital project execution—we can continue delivering the access, excellence and economic mobility that Illinois families expect and deserve.

Thank you for your time, your leadership and your partnership in strengthening higher education across our state.

Chairwoman Castro, Vice Chair Cunningham and esteemed members of the Executive Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of Northern Illinois University in support of Senate Bill 13, legislation that has been strengthened through meaningful collaboration.

I am proud to lead a higher-access, high-research public university, where 94% of our undergraduate students are Illinois residents, and their diversity mirrors our region. Of NIU’s more than 11,000 undergraduate students, 21% identify as Black or African American, 26% as Hispanic or Latino and 42% as white. Moreover, half of those undergraduates are first-gen, and slightly less than half are Pell- and/or MAP-eligible. As was shared by other public universities testifying here, a significant number of students who apply and are accepted by NIU do not enroll at our university or any other two- or four-year school. These students who are not pursuing higher education represent a significant opportunity for the future of Illinois.

All Huskie students bring talent, potential and a desire to graduate—with the goal of entering the workforce prepared to excel and contribute meaningfully to their communities.

 But not every Huskie arrives with a built-in support system—whether it’s financial means to cover tuition, transportation or living expenses; academic guidance to navigate rigorous coursework; social-emotional resources to manage stress and mental health; or access to mentorship, career planning and professional development. That’s where we must—and are proud to—step in and provide our students with the opportunities and resources required to realize their ambitions and strengthen our state.  

Because affordability remains a priority, NIU has worked diligently to control tuition and fees and provide substantial financial aid, while continuing to invest in technology as well as academic and non-academic support services.

Our focus on advising, tutoring, financial literacy, mentoring, career preparedness and wellness programming are delivering strong returns. Through a high-tech, high touch approach, we are increasing retention and graduation rates, achieving this semester our highest-ever, fall-to-spring re-enrollment rate for undergraduate students: 86.1%.

However, sustaining and exceeding these outcomes requires ongoing investment—an increasingly difficult task.

Currently, appropriated funds represent just under 24% of NIU’s $424 million revenue budget. As noted in the report of the Commission for Equitable Public University, Illinois’ current funding model fails to provide public universities with adequate or stable support. It allocates dollars without regard for institutional size, mission or the needs of student populations.

The analysis indicates that NIU is operating at just 49.5% of adequacy—meaning we have barely half of the resources necessary to fully support our students. Our faculty, staff and administration have stretched those resources to the limit.

With equitable, student-centered funding, we would readily enhance student success by offering a robust summer-bridge program; increasing access to supplemental instruction and peer tutoring; enhancing opportunities for paid internships; improving support for working, adult students; and expanding bilingual family programs and community partnerships.

Moreover, increased funding, paired with transparency and accountability, will enable all of us—the public universities, the state agencies and the general assembly—to identify, elevate and scale the programs that most effectively drive equitable access, affordability, enrollment, degree completion and workforce-ready skills. 

At NIU, we believe that talent is everywhere, but opportunity must be intentionally and equitably provided. With the long-term commitment to public university funding outlined in SB 13, we could provide every Huskie—and our institutions could provide every public university student, regardless of background—with the support needed to succeed to, through and beyond degree completion.

Chairman Ford, Vice Chairwoman Meyers-Martin, Republican Spokesperson Severin, and esteemed members of the committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony today on behalf of Northern Illinois University. My name is Lisa Freeman, and I serve proudly as president of NIU. Accompanying me today are Executive Vice President and Provost Laurie Elish-Piper, and Vice President for Administration and Finance George Middlemist.

I want to begin my remarks by thanking you for your time and commitment and expressing pride in NIU’s public mission and positive impact.

NIU is a higher access university that primarily serves students from historically and currently underserved groups, including first-generation college students, those from lower socio-economic backgrounds and students of color.

NIU is also a nationally recognized, high-research activity university, with $56 million in external funding that supports research on significant societal problems, such as severe climate and weather; educational and health disparities; and sustainable energy.

NIU’s renowned faculty and staff are at the forefront of generating new knowledge while preparing the next generation of scholars, scientists and leaders. Through a dynamic research enterprise, students gain hands-on experience that builds essential workplace skills—including critical thinking, problem-solving and collaboration—equipping them to thrive and contribute in a rapidly evolving economy

Indeed, faculty mentorship and engaged learning are integral to NIU and were key factors to being recognized in 2024 by both the Wall Street Journal and CollegeNET as a leading institution for advancing economic and social mobility and graduating students from low-income backgrounds into good-paying jobs.

Notably, 94% of NIU undergraduates are Illinois residents, and the vast majority remain in-state after graduation to join the workforce in critical sectors such as education, health care, business and STEM. NIU’s total economic impact on the state of Illinois is $1.2 billion annually.

Simply stated, the NIU community provides a strong return on state investment.

Our ability to continue to deliver strong returns is being challenged by what’s happening at the federal level. Universities, big and small, public and private, are grappling with how to respond to evolving federal policies that challenge our budget assumptions and financial stability, and conflict with the principles and values that define our institution. Let me give you three specific examples that have us all in higher education concerned:

• One: the instability within the Department of Education and the impact ability to effectively, efficiently and accurately disburse federal student financial aid. This is of particular concern coming on the heels of the bungled rollout of the revised FAFSA. About half of NIU undergraduates depend on Pell grants.
• Two: The cancellation of federal research and training grants, along with reductions in research funding and facilities and administrative reimbursements, poses serious risks to NIU and other universities’ ability to advance innovation and provide hands-on learning opportunities. With one-third of NIU’s external funding coming from federal sources, these cuts threaten to limit student experiences and constrain research that delivers real-world benefits.
• Three: the inconsistent and unclear changes to the status of undocumented students and visa holders. The impacts jeopardize the well-being and success of students, faculty and staff, and impair the university’s ability to achieve goals related to enrollment, student achievement, research and community engagement.

In the context of this uncertainty, we are grateful for Gov. Pritzker’s budget proposal, which includes a 3% increase to operational funds for public universities, a $10 million increase for the Monetary Award Program (MAP) and continued investment of $50 million in AIM HIGH. These investments will help alleviate the financial challenges experienced by NIU students, and maintain the infrastructure and services critical to their success, including our student success platform and our advising, tutoring, financial literacy, mentoring, career preparedness and wellness programs.

For the past several years, the university has focused on improving retention and graduation rates, and our high-tech, high-touch approach is making a difference. This semester, we achieved our highest-ever, fall-to-spring, re-enrollment rate for undergraduate students: 86.1%.

Sustaining and surpassing this outcome will require continued investment in services and programs designed to support the success of NIU students to, through and beyond degree completion. The university can accomplish this with support from the General Assembly. Specifically, we are asking for your continued support of higher education operating appropriations, MAP and AIM HIGH, as well as support for HB 1581, the Adequate and Equitable Public University Funding Formula.

NIU takes seriously our role as a responsible steward of public funding. As we request your support for increased state investment in public higher education, the university is simultaneously reducing costs, growing revenue and implementing deficit-reduction measures that will ensure the university’s long-term financial sustainability—without compromising our commitments to affordability and academic excellence.

To this end, we are also deeply invested in building and sustaining innovative partnerships that grow NIU enrollment, drive regional economic prosperity and address critical workforce shortages. Let me provide a few examples of our collaborations with community colleges.

To ensure that place-bound students, including working adults, have accessible, high-quality and convenient options to complete baccalaureate degrees, NIU offers multiple degree-completion programs on community college campuses including teacher licensure in Elementary Education with Bilingual/ESL Endorsement at Elgin Community College, Mechanical Engineering at Rock Valley College, Early Childhood Education and Public Health at the McHenry County College University Center, as well as Psychology and Computer Science, both there and at the Harper College University Center.

Other community college partnerships create opportunities for students to transfer to NIU with substantial scholarship support. For example, beginning in Fall 2025, NIU’s successful Rockford Promise Program will expand to include qualifying Rock Valley College transfer students, creating a new pathway for them to complete bachelor’s degrees.

Currently, there are 350 Rockford Promise scholars attending NIU without any out-of-pocket expenses for tuition and fees. In addition to the financial benefit, these students receive mentorship and support from NIU educators and from Rockford business and community leaders.

You are about to hear from one of our NIU Rockford Promise scholars, Maren Blakeney. Her experience illustrates what is possible when institutions, communities and policymakers come together to collaborate rather than compete. Her words will capture more powerfully than mine the ways NIU fuels the future of our students, our region and our state.

Chairman Halpin, Vice Chairwoman Guzmán, Republican Spokesperson Balkema and esteemed members of the committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony today on behalf of Northern Illinois University. My name is Lisa Freeman, and I serve proudly as president of NIU. Accompanying me today are Executive Vice President and Provost Laurie Elish-Piper, and Vice President for Administration and Finance George Middlemist.

I want to begin my remarks by expressing pride in NIU’s public mission and positive impact.

NIU is a higher-access university that primarily serves students from historically and currently underserved groups, including first-generation college students, those from lower socio-economic backgrounds and students of color.

NIU is also a nationally recognized, high-research activity university, with $56 million in external funding that supports research on significant societal problems, such as severe climate and weather; educational and health disparities; and sustainable energy.

NIU’s renowned faculty and staff are at the forefront of generating new knowledge while preparing the next generation of scholars, scientists and leaders. Through a dynamic research enterprise, students gain hands-on experience that builds essential workplace skills, including critical thinking, problem-solving and collaboration, equipping them to thrive and contribute in a rapidly evolving economy

Indeed, faculty mentorship and engaged learning are integral to NIU and were key factors to being recognized in 2024 by both the Wall Street Journal and CollegeNET as a leading institution for advancing economic and social mobility and graduating students from low-income backgrounds into good-paying jobs.

Notably, 94% of NIU undergraduates are Illinois residents, and the vast majority remain in-state after graduation to join the workforce in critical sectors such as education, health care, business and STEM. NIU’s total economic impact on the state of Illinois is $1.2 billion annually.

Simply stated, the NIU community provides a strong return on state investment.

And one of the great risks to our ability to continue to deliver strong returns is what’s happening at the federal level. Universities, big and small, public and private, are grappling with how to respond to evolving federal policies that challenge our budget assumptions and financial stability, and conflict with the principles and values that define our institution and form the bedrock of public higher education. Let me give you three specific examples that have us all in higher education concerned for our students, communities and country:

• One, the instability within the Department of Education and its ability to effectively, efficiently and accurately disburse federal student financial aid. Delays and errors can cost a student and family their future.
• Two, the myriad impacts of inconsistent and unclear changes to the status of undocumented students and visa holders. Such actions jeopardize the well-being and success of students, faculty and staff, and impair the university’s ability to achieve goals related enrollment; community engagement; research and artistry; and more.
• And three, the cancellation of federal research and training grants, along with reductions in research funding and facilities and administrative reimbursements, poses serious risks to NIU and other universities’ ability to advance innovation and provide hands-on learning opportunities. With one-third of NIU’s external funding coming from federal sources, these cuts threaten to limit student experiences and constrain research that delivers real-world benefits.

In this context, we are grateful for Gov. Pritzker’s budget proposal which includes a 3% increase to operational funds for public universities, a $10 million increase for the Monetary Award Program (MAP) and continued investment of $50 million in AIM HIGH. These investments will help alleviate the financial challenges experienced by NIU students, and maintain the infrastructure and services critical to their success, including our student success platform and our advising, tutoring, financial literacy, mentoring, career preparedness and wellness programs.

For the past several years, the university has focused on improving retention and graduation rates and our high-tech, high-touch approach is making a difference. This semester, we achieved our highest-ever fall-to-spring re-enrollment rate for undergraduate students: 86.1%.

Sustaining and surpassing this outcome will require continued investment in services and programs designed to support the success of NIU students to, through and beyond degree completion. The university can accomplish this with support from the General Assembly. Specifically, we are asking for your continued support of higher education operating appropriations, MAP and AIM HIGH, as well as support for SB13/HB1581, the Adequate and Equitable Public University Funding Formula.

NIU takes seriously our role as a responsible steward of public funding. As we request your support for increased state investment in public higher education, the university is simultaneously reducing costs, growing revenue and implementing deficit reduction measures that will ensure the university’s long-term financial sustainability—without compromising our commitments to affordability and academic excellence.

To this end, we are also deeply invested in building and sustaining innovative partnerships that grow NIU enrollment, drive regional economic prosperity and address critical workforce shortages. Let me provide a few examples of our collaborations with community colleges:

To ensure that place-bound students, including working adults, have accessible, high-quality and convenient options to complete baccalaureate degrees, NIU offers multiple degree-completion programs on community college campuses, including teacher licensure in Elementary Education with Bilingual/ESL Endorsement at Elgin Community College, Mechanical Engineering at Rock Valley College, Early Childhood Education and Public Health at the McHenry County College University Center, as well as Psychology and Computer Science, both there and at the Harper College University Center.

Other community college partnerships create opportunities for students to transfer to NIU with substantial scholarship support. For example, through our STEPup program, we have established a pipeline of learners from Waubonsee Community College who receive full-cost-of-attendance scholarships for two years as they pursue credentials to teach science at the high school level.  

Beginning in Fall 2025, NIU’s successful Rockford Promise Program will expand to include qualifying Rock Valley College transfer students, creating a new pathway for them to complete bachelor’s degrees. Currently, there are 350 Rockford Promise students attending NIU without any out-of-pocket expenses for tuition and fees.

These substantive and successful programs show what’s possible when institutions, communities and policymakers come together to collaborate rather than compete.

NIU is fueling the future of our students, our region and our state. Continued investment in our mission is an investment in innovation, equity and the economic vitality of Illinois.

Thank you for your time and commitment. I welcome your questions.

Chairman Ford, Vice Chairwoman Hernandez, Minority Spokesperson Severin and esteemed members of the committee, I appreciate the opportunity to provide testimony today on behalf of Northern Illinois University. My name is Lisa Freeman, and I serve proudly as the 13^th President of NIU. Accompanying me today are Executive Vice President and Provost Laurie Elish-Piper, Vice President for Administration and Finance George Middlemist and Senior Associate Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer John Acardo.

I want to begin my testimony by highlighting NIU’s significant impact on the lives of the students and communities we serve, and the value that our engaged, public research university adds to Illinois. An impact study conducted in January estimated NIU’s contribution to the regional economy to be 9,200 jobs and $1.2 billion in output attributable to student spending, university operations and capital projects. More importantly, the more than 165,000 NIU alumni living in Illinois contribute significantly to the educated workforce that helps our state attract new business and industry and support the local and state tax base. As noted in the materials that we shared, the average salary for new NIU graduates entering the workforce after earning their bachelor’s degrees in 2021 through 2023 was more than $60,000 and the average salary for all NIU alumni with bachelor’s degrees or higher is more than $95,000. These figures underscore the pivotal role NIU plays in driving economic growth and prosperity for the region and state. Investing in NIU represents more than just a financial commitment; it signifies a direct investment in bolstering the regional and statewide economy, fostering innovation and cultivating a skilled workforce poised for success in an increasingly competitive global landscape.

NIU embraces its public mission and its institutional responsibility for supporting the access and success of students who have been too often overlooked and underserved. NIU has a long history of serving promising students who are the first in their families to attend college, or from under-resourced or minoritized communities. And, we are intentionally growing our capacity to serve adult learners who may be members of the incumbent workforce; place-bound; and parents or caregivers.  

Importantly, NIU’s student body is demographically reflective of our region as well as the changing face of our nation. Students of color make up nearly 60% of our undergraduate class. Among the public universities, NIU accounts for 9% of total undergraduate enrollment but 15% of African American undergraduate enrollment and 11% of African American baccalaureate degree completion. Latino enrollment at NIU has increased by nearly 40% over the past decade, and this year, for the first time in NIU’s history, Latinx students comprise 25% of the total undergraduate population, a noteworthy accomplishment positioning us on a trajectory toward becoming one of relatively few high research institutions to receive full designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution.

Our commitment to fostering student access and success, particularly for historically underserved individuals, has driven us to be innovative. We are known for pioneering initiatives and implementing effective practices before they gained widespread adoption. To promote access, we were among the first universities in Illinois and nationally to eliminate the use of standardized tests in merit-based financial aid and admissions. And, we voluntarily joined the Public University Uniform Admission Pilot Program initiated in support of the IBHE strategic plan, providing automatic general admission to students in the top 10% of their high school class. Most recently, to further our dedication to accessibility and affordability, we have expanded the criteria for our AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge. Specifically, we have extended eligibility for free tuition and fees to students from families with adjusted gross family income of $100,000. Under the previous ceiling of $75,000 implemented in 2020, nearly 3,500 full-time students have qualified and enrolled at NIU. The AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge is one of the reasons that currently 43% of NIU undergraduate students pay no tuition or fees. We look forward to making an NIU education more affordable to a larger pool of academically accomplished students.

To foster persistence and degree-attainment for all Huskie students, we are responsive to their needs and provide them with a supportive and engaging environment where they feel seen, heard and valued. In this pursuit, we use evidence to inform our investments in high-impact academic and non-academic supports. We have made significant advancements implementing single-stop service centers, financial advising services, inclusive teaching practices in gateway courses and student well-being and mental health supports. We have also formed effective partnerships with community colleges, community-based organizations and industry partners. This significant commitment of human and financial resources is what enables our creative and capable students to succeed at and beyond NIU.

The power of our holistic approach is exemplified in the outcomes of the NIU Rockford Promise program. Over the past three years, we have welcomed more than 300 graduates from Rockford Public Schools to NIU—tuition- and fee-free; approximately 70% are first-generation and 60% are students of color. To aid in their success, Rockford Promise students engage in mentoring groups and attend monthly student success sessions covering topics such as time management, study skills and campus resources. NIU’s Rockford Promise Scholars’ grades have trended upward each completed semester, with their cumulative grade point average increasing from 3.04 in fall 2022 to 3.26 in fall 2023. And, impressively, at 85%, the first-year retention rate for Rockford Promise Scholars is significantly higher than the average for all new freshmen (70%).

Rockford Promise highlights what is possible when institutions have adequate funding to achieve equitable access and success for historically underserved student populations. Post-pandemic, we have recognized a pressing need to increase academic and non-academic supports for all NIU students. In fact, targeted investment has helped our retention and re-enrollment rates rebound after a significant COVID-related drop-off. For example, this academic year, 88% of full-time undergraduate students returned after the fall 2023 semester, resulting in the second highest fall-to-spring reenrollment rate in over a decade. This accomplishment is significant because of the association between retention and graduation rates, and the important role that NIU plays in promoting the social mobility of Illinois students, families and communities.

NIU is grateful for the governor’s proposal of a 2% increase to our annual operating appropriations and the continued commitment to MAP and AIM HIGH, against the background of a challenging budget climate for our state and public universities. We also commend the legislature for recognizing the toll that historical disinvestment in higher education has taken on the public universities’ abilities to serve Illinois students and drive inclusive economic growth. The legislature’s endorsement of the IBHE strategic plan, “Thriving Illinois,” and the establishment of the Illinois Commission on Equitable Public University Funding, represent important steps toward achieving our shared goals of addressing disparities in educational attainment and providing adequate, equitable and stable funding for Illinois’ public universities.  

The FY25 appropriations request approved by the NIU Board of Trustees requested base operating funding of $113.4M and an additional $3M to support new initiatives associated with things like enhanced student success services, adult learner initiatives and expansion of in-demand academic programs. That request exceeds both the governor’s recommended appropriation of $100.6M and the IBHE recommendation of $106.4M. To address the shortfall, we will continue to improve operational efficiency, look for opportunities to leverage relationships as resources and work collaboratively with the governor’s office, legislators and other institutions to pursue operational flexibility. NIU will prioritize sustaining high-impact programs critical to the success of enrolled students but, realistically, we may need to scale back plans to expand student support initiatives including adding summer-bridge programs and expanding advising, tutoring, and coaching.

To conclude, Northern Illinois University remains dedicated to advancing equity, access and student success in higher education and beyond. We clearly understand the needs of our students and the costs of the services required for their success. We are committed to collaborating with policymakers, community partners and stakeholders to ensure that all students, regardless of background or circumstance, have the opportunity to thrive academically and professionally. By adapting, innovating and investing in talented Illinois students, we will continue to provide the transformative educational experiences that enable them and our state to excel in an ever-changing world.

Chairwoman Loughran Cappel, Vice Chairwoman Lightford, Minority Spokesperson Bennett and esteemed members of the committee, I appreciate the opportunity to provide testimony today on behalf of Northern Illinois University. My name is Lisa Freeman, and I serve proudly as the 13^th president of NIU. Accompanying me today are Executive Vice President and Provost Laurie Elish-Piper, Vice President for Administration and Finance George Middlemist and Senior Associate Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer John Acardo.

I want to begin my testimony by highlighting NIU’s significant impact on the lives of the students and communities we serve, and the value that our engaged, public research university adds to Illinois. An impact study conducted in January estimated NIU’s contribution to the regional economy to be 9,200 jobs and $1.2 billion in output attributable to student spending, university operations and capital projects. More importantly, the more than 165,000 NIU alumni living in Illinois contribute significantly to the educated workforce that helps our state attract new business and industry and support the local and state tax base. As noted in the materials that we shared, the average salary for new NIU graduates entering the workforce after earning their bachelor’s degrees in 2021 through 2023 was more than $60,000, and the average salary for all NIU alumni with bachelor’s degrees or higher is more than $95,000. These figures underscore the pivotal role NIU plays in driving economic growth and prosperity for the region and state. Investing in NIU represents more than just a financial commitment; it signifies a direct investment in bolstering the regional and statewide economy, fostering innovation and cultivating a skilled workforce poised for success in an increasingly competitive global landscape.

NIU embraces its public mission and its institutional responsibility for supporting the access and success of students who have been too often overlooked and underserved. NIU has a long history of serving promising students who are the first in their families to attend college, or from under-resourced or minoritized communities. And, we are intentionally growing our capacity to serve adult learners who may be members of the incumbent workforce; place-bound; and parents or caregivers.  

Importantly, NIU’s student body is demographically reflective of our region as well as the changing face of our nation. Students of color make up nearly 60% of our undergraduate class. Among the public universities, NIU accounts for 9% of total undergraduate enrollment but 15% of African American undergraduate enrollment and 11% of African American baccalaureate degree completion. Latino enrollment at NIU has increased by nearly 40% over the past decade, and this year for the first time in NIU’s history, Latinx students comprise 25% of the total undergraduate population, a noteworthy accomplishment positioning us on a trajectory toward becoming one of relatively few high research institutions to receive full designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution.

Our commitment to fostering student access and success, particularly for historically underserved individuals, has driven us to be innovative. We are known for pioneering initiatives and implementing effective practices before they gained widespread adoption. To promote access, we were among the first universities in Illinois and nationally to eliminate the use of standardized tests in merit-based financial aid and admissions. And, we voluntarily joined the Public University Uniform Admission Pilot Program initiated in support of the IBHE strategic plan, providing automatic general admission to students in the top 10% of their high school class. Most recently, to further our dedication to accessibility and affordability, we have expanded the criteria for our AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge. Specifically, we have extended eligibility for free tuition and fees to students from families with adjusted gross family income of $100,000. Under the previous ceiling of $75,000 implemented in 2020, nearly 3,500 full-time students have qualified and enrolled at NIU. The AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge is one of the reasons that currently 43% of NIU undergraduate students pay no tuition or fees. We look forward to making an NIU education more affordable to a larger pool of academically accomplished students.

To foster persistence and degree-attainment for all Huskie students, we are responsive to their needs and provide them with a supportive and engaging environment where they feel seen, heard and valued. In this pursuit, we use evidence to inform our investments in high-impact academic and non-academic supports. We have made significant advancements implementing single-stop service centers, financial advising services, inclusive teaching practices in gateway courses and student well-being and mental health supports. We have also formed effective partnerships with community colleges, community-based organizations and industry partners. This significant commitment of human and financial resources is what enables our creative and capable students to succeed at and beyond NIU.

The power of our holistic approach is exemplified in the outcomes of the NIU Rockford Promise program. Over the past three years, we have welcomed more than 300 graduates from Rockford Public Schools to NIU—tuition- and fee-free; approximately 70% are first-generation and 60% are students of color. To aid in their success, Rockford Promise students engage in mentoring groups and attend monthly student success sessions covering topics such as time management, study skills and campus resources. NIU’s Rockford Promise Scholars’ grades have trended upward each completed semester, with their cumulative grade point average increasing from 3.04 in fall 2022 to 3.26 in fall 2023. And, impressively, at 85%, the first-year retention rate for Rockford Promise Scholars is significantly higher than the average for all new freshmen.

Rockford Promise highlights what is possible when institutions have adequate funding to achieve equitable access and success for historically underserved student populations. Post-pandemic, we have recognized a pressing need to increase academic and non-academic supports for all NIU students. In fact, targeted investment has helped our retention and re-enrollment rates rebound after a significant COVID-related drop-off. For example, this academic year, 88% of full-time undergraduate students returned after the fall 2023 semester, resulting in the second highest fall-to-spring reenrollment rate in over a decade. This accomplishment is significant because of the association between retention and graduation rates, and the important role that NIU plays in promoting the social mobility of Illinois students, families and communities.

NIU is grateful for the governor’s proposal of a 2% increase to our annual operating appropriations, and the continued commitment to MAP and AIM HIGH, against the background of a challenging budget climate for our state and public universities. We also commend the legislature for recognizing the toll that historical disinvestment in higher education has taken on the public universities’ abilities to serve Illinois students and drive inclusive economic growth. The legislature’s endorsement of the IBHE strategic plan, “Thriving Illinois,” and the establishment of the Illinois Commission on Equitable Public University Funding, represent important steps toward achieving our shared goals of addressing disparities in educational attainment and providing adequate, equitable and stable funding for Illinois’ public universities.  

The FY25 appropriations request approved by the NIU Board of Trustees requested base operating funding of $113.4M and an additional $3M to support new initiatives associated with things like enhanced student success services, adult learner initiatives and expansion of in-demand academic programs. That request exceeds both the governor’s recommended appropriation of $100.6M and the IBHE recommendation of $106.4M. To address the shortfall, we will continue to improve operational efficiency, look for opportunities to leverage relationships as resources and work collaboratively with the governor’s office, legislators and other institutions to pursue operational flexibility. NIU will prioritize sustaining high-impact programs critical to the success of enrolled students but, realistically, we may need to scale back plans to expand student support initiatives including adding summer-bridge programs and expanding advising, tutoring and coaching.

Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to have Gov. Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Stratton as well as Sen. Rezin and Reps. Yednock and Keicher on campus to talk about the importance of investing in higher education.

Gov. Pritzker's Fiscal Year 2024 proposed budget reaffirms the value of higher education as a public good. With an historic commitment to public universities, it promotes access, affordability and opportunity for all Illinoisans, and acknowledges the critical connections among higher education, social mobility and economic prosperity.

Particularly noteworthy in the governor's proposed budget for higher education is support for student financial aid, with an unprecedented increase in funding for the Monetary Awards Program and a continued commitment to the AIM HIGH Grant Program. These programs eliminate the financial barriers that prevent capable students from pursuing a college education. They are transformative for individuals and communities.

The governor's proposed 7% increase in the state portion of public university funding for operations is the largest proposed increase in two decades, and will positively impact students by allowing universities to invest in the resources they need to be successful academically and socially. Furthermore, this investment will help restore support for institutional operations that was negatively impacted during a prior period of reductions in higher education funding.

Continued funding for the Rebuild Illinois program supports construction initiatives and critical university infrastructure projects, repairs and renovations. This capital funding is badly needed to address life/safety facility issues on campuses and to tackle the deferred maintenance backlog. The human return on these capital expenditures will be substantial. The projects will create jobs that fuel local economies, and the modernized facilities will help attract and retain students, faculty and staff who are critical to Illinois' future workforce.

This investment in higher education is essential for the future of our state. Illinois' 12 public universities serve every region. They enroll more than 183,000 students who will become tomorrow's educators, scientists, artists, engineers, entrepreneurs, medical professionals and leaders in all facets of life. For Illinois cities and towns, such as DeKalb, where we are located, public universities facilitate community engagement, business growth and workforce development to sustain robust economic ecosystems. Our institutions also address complex, real-world challenges through research and innovation to improve society and our world.

Individually and collectively, Illinois public universities represent an enormous state resource that has served past generations with distinction and will benefit many more to come.

Thank you, Gov. Pritzker, for your administration's commitment to public higher education. It is my honor to introduce the 43^rd governor of the state of Illinois, JB Pritzker.

Good morning and thank you, Chairwoman Cappel and members of the committee. I am NIU President Lisa Freeman. With me today is Vice President for Administration and Finance and Chief Financial Officer George Middlemist; our Vice President for Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications, Sol Jensen; and an outstanding undergraduate student and MAP recipient, Rebekah Gonzalez.

I'd like to start by expressing my deepest gratitude for your support for higher education. We appreciate your confidence. We are continually working to improve, and to become even more effective in meeting the growing and dynamic needs of the students and communities that we serve. Our strategic planning is guided by an action planning framework with six themes, including resource development and fiscal sustainability. NIU's strategic priorities are updated annually, and shared accountability is encouraged through the adoption of key progress indicators. When we establish our annual and multiyear goals through this formal, public process, we strive to put students at the center.

NIU strongly supports Gov. Pritzker's proposed higher education budget for FY24, because of the ways that the 7% increase in state funding for university operations, the continued support for the AIM HIGH program and the significant funding increase for the Monetary Award Program will further our efforts to promote access and affordability, remove impediments to student success and support the recruitment, retention and professional development of excellent faculty and staff.

NIU will use the increase in funding for university operations to strengthen services that our students need to be successful academically and socially, including mental health and wellness and academic and financial advising. The increase in appropriated funds will also help us manage cost increases related to inflation, supply chain and a very competitive labor market.

The continued support for AIM HIGH means that we can continue transforming students' lives with our highly successful Huskie Pledge program. The Huskie Pledge covers tuition and general fee expenses not met by other financial aid for students from families whose income is at or below $75,000. As a result of AIM HIGH and our institutional aid investment, nearly 80% of freshmen and 67% of students of color receive a merit-based scholarship for all four years as a Huskie.

MAP grants are a critical component of the state's commitment to eliminating the financial barriers that prevent capable students from pursuing a college education. At NIU, nearly 50% of our undergraduate students receive MAP funding, and MAP aid is a difference-maker for every single recipient. For some students, MAP funding is the difference between going to college or not. MAP can also determine whether a student works one or two jobs while in school, or if they have time to participate in student organizations, community service, an internship or student government. It also impacts their engagement in experiential learning opportunities like being a member of a research team.

And research experience and activity are invaluable. NIU has a distinctive identity as a high research activity institution that is committed to providing opportunities to currently and historically underrepresented students. Synergy between our high research activity, and our strong commitment to access and affordability, amplifies our positive impact on the success of our students and our state.

NIU researchers address complex, real-world challenges head-on. They are studying how to adapt to shifting climate and weather patterns and sharing that information with farmers, insurers and vulnerable communities. They are also creating innovative classroom technologies, building new lasers and accelerators and developing programs to support youth who are incarcerated or in the foster care system.

This work is supported largely by external funding from grants and contracts to NIU – funding that has grown by almost 40% in the last five years, totaling more than $42 million last year and on track to exceed that this year.

We value the ways that NIU research generates new knowledge and sparks innovation, but we appreciate even more the wide range of hands-on learning experiences that faculty research projects provide for our students.

National data show that providing students with faculty-mentored research experiences promotes persistence and student success, inspires students to expand their horizons and ambitions and contributes to diversification of the STEM workforce. We are demonstrating this at NIU, and I want you to hear about it directly from an amazing Huskie: fourth-year undergraduate Rebekah Gonzalez. After Rebekah's comments, our team will be happy to take questions.

Good morning and thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. My name is Lisa Freeman, and I'm the president of Northern Illinois University. I am delighted to be here with you in person. It's been a long time since I've sat at this table and it's good to be back.

With me today is our Vice President for Administration and Finance and Chief Financial Officer, George Middlemist, and our Vice President for Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications, Sol Jensen. I'm also very excited that Rebekah Gonzalez will be joining us virtually. Rebekah is an outstanding student and exemplifies what it means to be a Huskie.

I'd like to start by expressing my deepest gratitude for your support for higher education. The increase in appropriations in FY23 along with GEER funding allowed us to allocate more resources to student support services to address the inequities and challenges exacerbated by events of the last two years.

We also appreciate and strongly support Governor Pritzker's proposed higher education budget for FY24. The proposed budget provides a 7% increase in funding for university operations, continued support for capital repairs and improvements and the AIM High program, as well as a significant funding increase for the Monetary Award Program. At NIU, nearly 6,000 of our students rely on MAP to complete their education.

NIU is a nationally recognized research university that serves predominantly students from historically and currently underserved groups, including students who are first in their families to attend college, students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and students of color. NIU is a worthwhile investment because synergy between our high research activity, and our strong commitment to access and affordability, amplifies our positive impact on the success of our students and our state. That is what I want to focus my comments on today.

NIU's longstanding commitment to equity and access and matching talent with opportunity is reflected in the university's mission, vision, values and annual goals, as well as the pillars and objectives of IBHE's strategic plan, “A Thriving Illinois.”

Before college affordability became a national talking point, we were champions of the belief that education and opportunity should be accessible to all. We've reduced entry barriers by holding tuition flat for seven of the last nine years; consistently increasing institutional aid since 2017; partnering with the City of Rockford and Rockford Public Schools to establish the Rockford Promise; implementing test-free merit scholarships and admissions; adopting the Common App; and eliminating application fees.

We've also had tremendous success with the transformational AIM High Program and, in fact, AIM High is foundational to our Huskie Pledge program, which covers tuition and general fee expenses not met by other financial aid for students from families whose income is at or below $75,000. In addition, nearly 80% of freshmen and 67% of students of color receive a merit-based scholarship for all four years as a Huskie.

But access and affordability are only one part of the student success equation. We have also been intentional in taking measures to ensure students can stay focused and persist through college despite external pressures they face. As one example, we have increased the number of peer tutors devoted to helping students make a smooth transition into college, succeed in the courses necessary to progress through their chosen majors and develop connections that foster feelings of belonging.

I am happy to share that our efforts are paying off. We saw strong levels of student engagement throughout the fall, followed by considerable improvement of undergraduate fall-to-spring reenrollment. Notably, reenrollment of our first-year, full-time students has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

We believe addressing equity and access, and promoting student success, also requires creative partnerships. NIU has more than 150 partnership agreements with community colleges to facilitate student transfers. Those include standard articulation agreements, program-specific 2+2 and 3+1 agreements, reverse articulation agreements and industry-specific specialized agreements.

Some of our most creative collaborations have received national recognition. And within Illinois, NIU has gained the reputation of being agile and responsive to the needs of employers, incumbent workforce and place-bound students.

In Rockford, we brought our engineering program to Rock Valley College to provide industry-integrated engineering degrees and develop local talent to meet workforce needs. NIU is also partnering with University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Richland Community College and Decatur's electric vehicle component manufacturer, T/CCI, to assist with its development of a training facility as a part of Decatur's electric vehicle innovation cluster.

NIU has offered degree completion programs in computer science, marketing and psychology in collaboration with the University Center at Harper College since 2019. To date, over 300 students have enrolled in our programs at Harper and approximately 50 students have graduated. Given this success, we plan to replicate this model with McHenry County College at a new University Center in Woodstock, Illinois.

Addressing educator workforce needs, including early childhood, is a priority for NIU, just as it is for our sister higher education institutions, community-based advocates and parents across Illinois. Since 2019, we've had a program with Elgin Community College called PLEDGE-Partnering to Lead and Empower District-Grown Educators. PLEDGE is helping districts based in Elgin, Algonquin and Burlington meet their needs for elementary educators with bilingual/ESL endorsement. Notably, this program which was designed for, and serves, place-bound working adults with family responsibilities, has achieved a 100% graduation rate to date, with all of the graduates working as teachers in the area.

NIU is also a strong supporter and active participant in Illinois' Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity or ECACE. To date, the ECACE scholarship has provided support to 112 NIU students seeking to be qualified as early childhood professionals holding bachelor's degrees.

NIU is committed to maximizing the positive impacts of higher education on individuals, communities and the State of Illinois by promoting social mobility, increasing talent and innovation to drive economic growth, and building stronger financial futures for individuals, families and communities. Achieving these objectives requires helping students become financially literate and gain meaningful employment.

NIU launched Student Financial Advising Services to help students make informed decisions about financing their education to minimize debt and maximize return. Since that time, services have expanded to meet the broader needs of students and families, and we now offer education about topics beyond financial aid, including the basics of budgeting and credit, and multiyear financial planning.

To help NIU students secure strong first jobs or enroll in respected graduate programs, the university has partnered with the non-profit organization Braven. Their programs include an interactive leadership and career skills course taught by industry professionals, as well as mentoring and internship opportunities. Nationally, students like ours who are Braven fellows outpace peers in degree attainment and economic outcomes.

Earlier in my testimony, I stated that NIU is a worthwhile investment because of our distinctive identity as a high research activity institution that is committed to providing opportunities to currently and historically underrepresented students. Synergy between these aspects of our mission, along with our strong commitment to community engagement, adds value for our society, our state and our students.

NIU researchers addresses complex, real-world challenges head-on, and the breadth of our research and engagement is impressive. They are studying how to adapt to shifting climate and weather patterns and sharing that information with farmers, insurers and vulnerable communities. They are also creating innovative classroom technologies, building new lasers and accelerators, and developing programs to support youths who are incarcerated or in the foster care system.

This work is supported largely by external funding from grants and contracts to NIU. And external funding for research, instruction and engagement has grown by almost 40% in the last five years, totaling more than $42 million last year, and on track to exceed that this year.

We value the ways that NIU research generates new knowledge and sparks innovation, but we appreciate even more the wide range of hands-on learning experiences that faculty research projects provide for our students.

National data show that providing students with faculty-mentored research experiences promotes persistence and student success; inspires students to expand their horizons and ambitions; and contributes to diversification of the STEM workforce. We are demonstrating this at NIU, and I want you to hear about it directly from one of our amazing Huskies. I'd like to ask Rebekah Gonzalez to now provide her testimony. Rebekah is a fourth-year undergraduate student joining us from DeKalb.

****Testimony from NIU student Rebekah Gonzalez****

Thank you, Rebekah. It will be my honor to preside over Rebekah's graduation this May and to watch her succeed and positively contribute in a STEM field. Please join me in congratulating Rebekah.

In closing, higher education is an investment in our collective future that catalyzes social mobility and economic development. We urge you to consider the governor's proposed budget for higher education to promote a stronger and more competitive Illinois. Thank you for allowing us to be here today with you. I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

Good morning and thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. It's a pleasure to be here. My name is Lisa Freeman, and I'm president of Northern Illinois University. If we were in person today, I would have with me at the testimony table our Executive Vice President and Provost, Beth Ingram, and Vice President for Administration and Finance, Sarah Chinniah. They are here virtually, as are Vernese Edghill-Walden, vice president for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Interim Chief Human Resources Officer; and Sol Jensen, vice Ppesident for Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications.

Let me get straight to the point. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly created many challenges for not only NIU but all universities over the past year. We are grateful for receiving federal CARES money, state GEER funding and the free saliva-based Shield tests that we have used on campus for surveillance testing. The assistance from both the federal and state governments has helped us immensely as we have faced an unprecedented loss of revenue and increased costs from the pandemic. Importantly, the allocation of funds allowed us to provide emergency relief funding, as well as academic and social support to NIU students who have significant need.

In addition to the governmental relief, we have done our best to control expenses in the wake of lost revenue. Members of NIU's senior leadership team took voluntary pay cuts. The university implemented a voluntary retirement incentive program for our employees and enacted a hiring chill. In addition, we delayed important deferred maintenance projects. Those responses, along with the state and federal aid, will allow us to essentially break even in FY21.

That said, such actions are not sustainable, and NIU will continue to face fiscal challenges in the coming year due to the continued impact of COVID-19. Although we are emerging from the pandemic, auxiliary revenues are projected to recover slowly, and costs related to COVID mitigation will continue.

We are also mindful that the state faces budgetary challenges for many similar reasons. That is why we are appreciative of Gov. Pritzker's budget proposal to hold higher education funding flat in FY22 and maintain our appropriation of $87.8 million. In addition, we are grateful that money for capital projects and deferred maintenance was reappropriated. Our university, region and state will benefit from the construction of our long-awaited Health Informatics building as well as our hub in the Illinois Innovation Network, the Northern Illinois Center for Community Sustainability. Successful completion of these projects will enhance our research facilities and capabilities, attract community partners, train health professionals to address recognized needs and bolster our recruitment and retention of students, faculty and staff.

Although budget challenges remain, we have much to be optimistic about. Despite a national data that showed that high school graduates enrolling in college dropped 6.8% this year, NIU saw its total enrollment grow. Most notably, our freshmen enrollment increased 8%, College of Law enrollment grew 12%, and our graduate and professional enrollment held steady.

As important, our first-year retention rate rose 6 percentage points to 78%, the highest in 15 years. Specifically, we saw a 10-percentage-point jump in retention of students of color, with similar increases for first-generation and low-income students. These increases may be attributed to the implementation of the Strategic Enrollment Management Plan that we released in 2019, as well as the Equity Plan supported by our collaboration with the Illinois Equity in Attainment initiative.

At NIU, we believe a life-changing education should be within reach of everyone, with access, opportunity and success for all students. We are leading the way in Illinois and nationally to remove barriers to admission and persistence, and I want to share details of a few of our focused efforts to make an NIU degree accessible, equitable and affordable.

Our adoption of the Common App has made it easier for students to apply to NIU, and applications for fall 2021 admission are the highest ever.

Prior to the pandemic, we became one of the nation's first public universities to announce test-free admissions and merit scholarship processes, because we recognized the inequity associated with relying on standardized tests to make admission and financial aid decisions. Our review of national studies on the subject – in concert with our own institutional analysis of more than 20 years of data – confirmed that:

• High school GPA is a better predictor of college GPA and graduation rate than the ACT/SAT.
• Test scores are most strongly correlated with family income and parental education level.
• The students most likely to have strong high school GPAs and low test scores were students of color, first-generation to college, students who speak a second language at home and low-income students.

This made us particularly concerned about how standardized test scores could be limiting students' access to merit-based scholarships.

So, we looked specifically at students who entered NIU with a strong high school GPA and maintained good academic standing but did not persist through graduation. We saw that, most often, financial issues were responsible for them leaving NIU without completing degrees. And we saw an opportunity to decrease student debt and increase degree completion by offering students scholarships based on GPA without consideration of standardized test scores. This is the philosophy we used to deploy Aim High dollars.

In particular, our Huskie Pledge program, funded with AIM HIGH dollars, is helping to ensure that academically impressive Illinois students from lower-income households can attend college with no tuition or general fees for their first year and beyond. In the fall of 2020, the first year of the scholarship program, NIU had more than 700 Huskie Pledge recipients in our freshman class. Their average high school GPA was 3.57; 80% are students of color and three of every four are the first in their families to enroll in college. Its impact can be summed up by the student comment:

“This program is saving my family. My dad just not that long ago lost his job, and this program saved my career and my future. This program gives me and my family a chance for success.”

Beyond the Huskie pledge, NIU has eliminated standardized test scores in award criteria for all merit scholarships. This is our first year of that change, and we won't have final enrollment impacts until September. However, we can already tell by both admission and scholarship offers that the changes have already been positive for students and the university.

Comparing final fall 2020 scholarship awarding to mid-March awarding for fall 2021, we noted that the total scholarships awarded more than doubled for Latinx, Asian and Black students. When we consider our Tier 1 merit scholarships ($7,000 per year for four years) we see that awards increased by 150% for Asians, 294% for Latinx and 387% for Blacks.

Lessening the financial barriers to a college degree is important, but it's only one of the ways that we are focusing on equity. We have committed to closing gaps in degree attainment and academic achievement particularly for low-income, first-generation African American and Latinx students. In fact, this is a priority, and among several equity and inclusion focused university goals proposed by me and approved by the Board of Trustees.

To this end, NIU has worked with the Partnership for College Completion on developing a five-year plan to support “Equity in Attainment” and contributed to the “Equity Working Group for Black Student Access and Success in IL Higher Education.” We are employing several strategies, including:

• Eliminating all non-college-level math courses and revising repeat policies.
• Providing supplemental instruction in all gateway courses with high D/F/W and/or equity gaps, and
• Building capacity in mentoring programs for students of color.

At this time when the Illinois Board of Higher Education is making equity the centerpiece of its strategic plan, its board chair described NIU's equity agenda as “a difference-maker” that is “driving how other institutions think about their mission.” NIU will continue to set the pace, especially during this time, when our students face extraordinary challenges.

To close my appropriations remarks, I want to leave you with an understanding of how NIU executes its public mission. We are intentional in our planning, have a strong equity orientation, are good stewards of public funds and have used those funds to advance the social mobility of students from underserved communities.

In addition, our students, staff and faculty engage with all of the communities we serve and generate impactful research. We provide invaluable support to local businesses who need assistance with their pandemic response, and we will continue to contribute to our community and society in ways that will make our entire state proud.

Thank you.

Northern Illinois University commends Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois legislature for their commitment and investment in higher education reflected in the signing of the FY25 budget Wednesday, June 5, 2024. The appropriation to NIU supports the university’s mission, vision, values and our ability to transform the lives of students and their communities. The expansion of the Monetary Award Program (MAP) and the continuation of AIM HIGH will enable students statewide to access new opportunities and earn degrees that will bolster social mobility; innovation and research; and economic growth.

Continuing to enhance investment in the state’s public universities is a necessary, worthwhile and strategic decision that will provide long-term benefits for the state’s economy, society and overall prosperity.

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Gov. Pritzker for his proposed FY25 budget, which reflects a commendable commitment to supporting higher education amidst a challenging fiscal climate. We particularly appreciate the 2% increase in appropriated funds for operations and the continued support for AIM HIGH and MAP, which will undoubtedly provide much-needed relief to the students of Northern Illinois University. The governor’s additional allocation for deferred maintenance in the FY25 capital budget will support necessary improvements to our campus to ensure safety and functionality and to improve the overall quality of our facilities. While this proposed increase is appreciated and a step in the right direction, it does not fully address the escalating costs of inflation, presenting continued financial hurdles for our institution. The governor’s address is the first step in our state budget process that will continue through May and will involve budget hearings and negotiations before a final budget is approved. We will continue to advocate for investment in higher education and our university. NIU is nothing if not resilient and resolute in our mission to ensure all students have access to the opportunities necessary to pursue and succeed in higher education, regardless of background or circumstance. We will continue to do so despite these prevailing challenges.

Gov. JB Pritzker’s signing of the FY24 budget into law Wednesday June 8, 2023, is a clear and historic demonstration that Illinois understands that an investment in higher education is an investment in our collective future. The 7% increase in support for operations will help our institutions attract, educate and graduate students who will keep Illinois at the forefront of business, STEM fields, education, health care and more for decades to come. We are especially pleased to see the $100 million in additional funding for MAP grants and the $15 million increase in spending on AIM HIGH (which funds the NIU Huskie Pledge program), making that program permanent. This level of commitment to those programs puts life-changing college degrees within reach of talented students across the state, regardless of the economic status of their families, and puts them on a path to a more prosperous future.

Governor JB Pritzker's FY24 budget proposal reflects a positive and significant investment across education and the future of our state. NIU shares the governor's commitment of making sure a college education is affordable, and applauds the significant increase to the Monetary Award Program and the continuation of the AIM HIGH program. We also appreciate the proposed increase to NIU's appropriation that will enhance our ability to provide students with the foundation and resources they need to be successful now and in the future. Higher education is an investment in our collective future because it catalyzes social mobility and economic development. We encourage the legislature to endorse Governor Pritzker's higher education budget proposal to make Illinois stronger and more competitive.

NIU appreciates Gov. Pritzker's continued commitment to, and confidence in, higher education. He clearly recognizes our ability to transform students' lives and to positively impact our state's future. The inclusion of a supplemental increase to our FY22 budget is especially meaningful in the uncertain, fiscally challenging operating environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are especially pleased to see further investment in critical student aid supports such as AIM HIGH and the Monetary Award Program that help make attaining a university degree more equitable, accessible and possible for a significant number of our students.

We are pleased to see that Gov. Pritzker continues to be a strong proponent of supporting higher education. Sustaining funding at the same level as last year will allow us to continue to effectively serve our diverse audience with the high quality, affordable education and support services they need to be successful, even in this challenging and uncertain time. We are also particularly excited and appreciative to see Governor Pritzker propose an additional $28 million in MAP funding, which is critical to recruiting and retaining students.