Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s state budget proposal for 2026 would make another historic investment into public education, but uncertainty about the future of K-12 education funding still looms.

Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed continuing funding for a program aimed at getting more minority teachers in classrooms as a conservative legal strategist challenges the programs constitutionality in federal court.

Western Illinois University faculty and staff are learning more about a new bill that has the potential to reshape how public universities in the Land of Lincoln are funded. Senate Bill 13 (SB13) and House Bill 1581 (HB1581) proposes a new funding system, the Adequate and Equitable Funding Formula.

An Illinois State Senate bill would dramatically change the way higher education is funded in the state. The bill, SB 3965, would create the Adequate and Equitable Public University Funding Act which would structure state higher education funding on a formula similar to that used to fund Illinois’ primary K-12 schools.

Legislators in Illinois have taken up the cause of getting more state funding for public higher education. Illinois State Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford and Illinois State Representative Carol Ammons recently announced the filing of SB3965, the Adequate and Equitable Funding Formula for Public Universities Act.

Drafted to make college more accessible for Illinois students by increasing state funding to prevent tuition hikes and filling funding gaps between flagships and regional institutions, the bill would be one of the first of its kind in the nation if it ultimately passes.