Dominick Breiland, a freshman general studies major, said he had his first hope of being able to do something in his life at 13, when he was adopted.

“The lifestyle that my parents lived was the lifestyle I was following in,” he said. “And so when I first started applying for college, it was like a dream.”

His entire life, people had been telling him he was not going to be able to college, or amount to anything.

“When I got my acceptance letter, I was like, this is amazing,” he said. “But, how am I going to pay for this?”

It was students like Breiland who told their stories when Michael Frerichs, the Illinois state treasurer, made a visit to Eastern Tuesday to talk about Monetary Award Program Grant funding and other forms of tuition assistance that have yet to be resolved by the Illinois General Assembly.

Breiland is one of the students who applied for the MAP Grant and got it, making college affordable for him and his family.

“Hearing I might not be able to get that, I don’t know how it would be to pay for it without it because I don’t have credit to get a loan, my parents don’t have credit to get a loan,” he said. “What are we supposed to do if we don’t get this?”

Bruce Rauner, the Illinois state governor, vetoed the budget in June, which included $397 million for MAP grants; the senate recently approved $373 million in grant funding, but Governor Rauner threatened another veto if the House also approves this funding.

“The state budget has not been passed yet, but large portions of state funding have been signed into law by the governor or have been decreed by the courts,” Frerichs said.

K-12 education, state employee funding, Medicaid, and other things mandated by the courts received 90 percent of state funding.

MAP grants have not been mandated by the courts.

Whitney Turner, a senior psychology major, is a first-generation college student whose guidance counselor started talking to her about grants and scholarships in high school. “The way my counselor was explaining it, I thought it was almost easy, too easy to believe,” she said. “It kind of gave me so much hope, I wouldn’t have to take out so many loans.”

“Being here already is a shocking thing to me, I wouldn’t, four years ago, be able to tell you I would be walking across the stage,” Turner said.

Jose Durbin, a junior political science major, spoke about the struggle of affording a college education and his mother’s medical insurance and prescriptions for epilepsy and other medical issues.

For three years, Durbin had the MAP grant and did not have a balance, but because the grant is not being funded, he now has to pay a tuition balance.

“My parents can’t afford to help me right now because they’re going through foreclosure on their home, so it’s really been a devastating time,” Durbin said. “And if we can’t do this MAP grant, I’ll have to get additional student loans for this semester and next semester.”

Frerichs grew up in a first generation college family and they were not prepared when he went to college; he said when he got accepted they knew it was unaffordable.

Frerichs’ family was eventually able to send him to college with the help of grants and loans and working through college.

“Too many young people when they are told that they can’t make it happen, they don’t go,” Frerichs said. “And I am a firm believer that potential and talent is spread throughout all the students in our state.”

Frerichs said this was why the MAP grant program was started several decades ago.

“There are talented students out there who can be great contributors to our society if they just have the opportunity and access to get on the pathway to success,” Frerichs said. “And that’s what the MAP grant should do.”

Frerichs said the grant is one part of the state budget that should be funded and not held hostage for other agendas.

“They were told if you go to school, if you get good grades, you qualify for one of these grants,” Frerichs said. “And when they show up here on campus, they’re told there is a pending bill, that the money didn’t follow them.”

Josh Bullock, Lake Land president, said they see a decent amount of students who apply for MAP funding each year.

Without MAP funding from the state, colleges such as Lake Land have been issuing MAP grants to students with the hope that the state will pay for those grants.

“Unfortunately with the tight fiscal situation you will see many community colleges around the state are determining whether or not they’re able to continue offering MAP grants in the spring,” Bullock said.

Bullock said many students who did not receive MAP grants would not be able to go into higher education.

“For many of our students saying you need to come up with $1,000 additional dollars, you might as well tell them it’s $100,000,” Bullock said. “Because that amount of money is insurmountable for many students.”

Bullock said without MAP grants, students may go to other states for college to find better financial resources.
Cassie Buchman can be reached at 581-2812 or cjbuchman@eiu.edu.