Southern Illinois University Carbondale student Ben Handler joined hundreds of others in Springfield Wednesday to urge lawmakers to fund colleges and universities.
State funding for higher education has been caught in the state's budget impasse, now in its 10th month.
Handler says many of his friends are leaving SIU because they can't afford it or they think they'll get a better education somewhere else.
"They're seeing classes get cut, they're seeing programs get cut. A lot of professors are leaving because they're unsure about the future of SIU."
College student Jaclyn Smith says the state budget impasse is not only affecting her, it's affecting her unborn child.
Smith... who is six-months pregnant... has been attending Western Illinois University on low-income tuition grants the state pays for. But she says she'll have to quit school if the state doesn't start funding MAP grants again.
Smith and Handler were two of hundreds of students from colleges and universities across the state who came to Springfield to push lawmakers to pass funding for higher education.