On April 16, the Coalition for Transforming Higher Education Funding hosted its first in-person Higher Education Advocacy Day in Springfield, Ill. 

With support from many statewide and national non-profits including Advance Illinois, Partnership for College Completion, Women Employed, and Young Invincibles, over 60 advocates, including dozens of students, met with state legislators at the State Capitol Building to fight for a better higher education system for all in Illinois.

Advocates championed several topics throughout the day, focusing on the Commission on Equitable Public University Funding’s recommendations, increasing investment into the Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act, funding the Minority Teachers of Illinois scholarship and investing an additional $50 million into the Monetary Award Program (MAP). 

In addition to meeting with legislators throughout the day, the event included a rally in the rotunda where several legislators and leaders of partnered organizations spoke out in support of the Coalition’s priorities, including Representative Carol Ammons, Representative Kam Buckner and Representative Katie Stuart.

“We stand united at our state capitol with core members of the Coalition and advocates across Illinois who champion policies directing more resources to colleges serving Black, Latinx, low-income, rural, and first-generation students,” said Christian Perry, PCC Director of Policy and Advocacy at the rally. “It is our hope that by advocating for an equitable funding model, along with our other priorities, we can help better serve and direct needed resources to Black, Latinx, low-income, rural and first-generation college students and the institutions serving them.”

From the students who raised their voices and shared their stories to the advocates who showed up and spoke out, the Coalition’s Advocacy Day made clear that the work of making higher education more equitable for all students in Illinois is just getting started.