HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Higher Education in Illinois Is Dying. “Faculty and staff are nervous, too. Public universities across the state are laying people off at alarming rates. Chicago State University, the predominantly African-American school that has made national headlines lately for its rapid dismantling, laid off 300 employees this spring. A full 30 percent of its budget comes from the state; it now says it may not be able to open come fall if the impasse continues. Downstate, in the hamlet of Charleston, Eastern Illinois University has laid off 261 employees. Over in Macomb, at Western Illinois University, the number is 110.”

All is proceeding as I have foretold. And Chicago State, with a 12.8 percent graduation rate, richly deserves dismantling.