Higher Education

Illinois State University President Larry Dietz is asking state lawmakers for fair, dependable funding.

The last of the finalists for the job of Heartland Community College president will visit campus Monday and Tuesday.

Illinois State University's new provost is Jan Murphy.

An Illinois State University professor who once sued the institution over gender pay equity has now given ISU its largest faculty cash gift ever.

Unit 5 officials are not thrilled with Gov. Bruce Rauner's proposal to shift pension costs from the state to local school districts.

A local nonprofit organization has found a new home for a rare, historical text from the 19th century.

State Farm Insurance is giving Heartland Community College $383,000 to support three workplace preparedness programs involving short-term certificates and career coaching.

The Heartland Community College Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to move ahead with a debt swap that administrators hope will increase financial flexibility.

The latest quarterly look at the Peoria area economy shows modest growth and projected stability.

An Egyptian Muslim and former exchange student at Heartland Community College said he is disillusioned by mixed messages he's receiving from the United States.

A longtime fixture of Illinois State University has passed away.

Illinois State University President Larry Dietz said a looming state election cycle could hold new budget negotiations hostage.

At least two significant demonstrations were sparked Tuesday in Bloomington-Normal after President Donald Trump's decision to wind down a program protecting young immigrants from deportation.

Illinois State University's Board of Trustees must vote again on the contract employing President Larry Dietz.

When the board approved the contract Aug. 6, it turns out four of them weren't trustees at all.

The new state budget will fund Illinois colleges and universities at the level of funding they received in 2015—minus 10 percent. But there’s one area of higher education that got a boost.

The president of Illinois State University said Thursday's passage of a state budget is a welcome relief. Larry Dietz said more work remains to be done, but at least there is a way forward.

"It makes life a lot easier in terms of the planning. Frankly we have felt that nobody cares much about education because there has been no scheme and no plan to fund it," said Dietz.

In the wake of another spring legislative session that failed to produce a state budget, two ratings agencies have downgraded state universities including ISU.

Standard and Poor's recently chose not to downgrade ISU, but S and P has a rule that no public university can be more than three grades above the rating for its host state. And so when S and P downgraded Illinois, last week it also gave a technical downgrade to ISU to A minus.

The Missouri Valley Conference President's Council has ratified the membership of Valparaiso University. All Valparaiso's sponsored sports will begin conference play in the fall of 2017.

That does not include football in which Valparaiso plays in the Pioneer League.