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Uncertain Future for College Illinois

It's going to take a lot to fix Illinois' troubled college savings program. That's the message legislators heard Tuesday while grilling the head of the state agency that oversees College Illinois.

The program allows parents or grandparents to buy their kids one to nine semesters at locked-in rates. But the down economy and the rising price of tuition have left the program on shaky financial ground.  There are also accusations previous leadership made questionable investments. Illinois Student Assistance Commission interim director John Sinsheimer says College Illinois is 70 percent funded.  He told lawmakers that the program can't solve the problem itself.  Sinsheimer says the stock market won't fix the problem either. It's going to require working with the university systems and working with the General Assembly and stake-holders to develop a solution that works for everybody."
 
Sinsheimer told legislators there are a number of ways to fix the program including action by the General Assembly to back the contracts with the "full faith and credit" of the state or share the cost of the contracts with the state's universities. Another option would be to close the College Illinois together.

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