By Sophie Zhang
S
tudents from about 15 universities and colleges gathered in front of the Thompson Center downtown Tuesday to demand Gov. Bruce Rauner fund a widely used grants program that serves low-income students in Illinois.
Because of lack of funding, the state currently doesn’t have a budget for the Monetary Award Program (MAP) for 2016. The Illinois General Assembly passed the bill SB2043 to pay for the MAP, but the governor said he would veto it.
Over the past 50 years, MAP has provided higher-education grants to Illinois residents from low-income families. About 128,000 students received MAP in 2015, according to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission.
[vimeo 155600786 w=474]
Photo at top: The need-based MAP grant aims to insure all Illinois residents receive educational opportunities. (Sophie Zhang/MEDILL)
