The Coalition for Transforming Higher Education Funding is bringing advocates together from across the state for the 2026 Higher Education Advocacy Day on Thursday, April 16, in Springfield. Centered on the bold theme, “Higher Education Works for Illinois,” this event will spotlight how investing in students and public universities fuels opportunity, strengthens communities, and drives the state forward.
Over 500 passionate students, professors, university staff, community members, and advocate organizations will take to the halls of the State Capitol, meeting directly with legislators to push for meaningful change in Illinois’ higher education system. At the top of the agenda is accelerating momentum for the passage of the Adequate and Equitable Funding Formula for Public Universities Act (SB 13 / HB 1581) that reverses decades of underfunding and provides the resources required for providing higher education opportunities to Illinois’ students. Advocates will also call on legislators to invest an additional $71 million for the Monetary Award Program (MAP)—both critical steps toward expanding access, affordability, and equity in higher education.
The highlight of the day will be the Higher Education Advocacy Day Rally at 12 p.m. in the Capitol Building rotunda, where advocates and lawmakers alike will stand united, making it clear: Illinois deserves a fully-funded higher education system that stops sending students out of the state, families into debt, and professors and university staff out of their professions. Expect powerful stories, bold ideas, and a shared commitment to a stronger, more inclusive future for everyone. A live stream of the rally will be available by the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) on Facebook.
This year’s Advocacy Day is powered by a dynamic group of organizing partners:
- Advance Illinois
- Center for Tax and Budget Accountability
- Illinois Federation of Teachers
- Latino Policy Forum
- Partnership for College Completion
- University Professionals of Illinois
- Women Employed
- Young Invincibles
The Coalition for Transforming Higher Education Funding is a group of like-minded individuals and organizations across Illinois working to advance a public university funding model that prioritizes racial and socioeconomic equity, as one piece of an effort to transform our higher education system. That equitable funding model helps serve more representative student populations and helps direct needed resources to institutions serving Black, Latinx, low-income, rural and first-generation college students.
After building momentum through virtual events in 2022 and 2023, Advocacy Day moved to an in-person event in 2024, and has grown exponentially in 2025 and 2026.
2026 Higher Education Advocacy Day