Budget Impasse Could Keep Some College Grads From Getting Diplomas
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Thousands of families have been left wondering if the state will live up to its promise to pay its share of scholarship grants, while the future has been put on hold for some graduates.
This weekend, a 24-year-old woman from McHenry County will be among the graduates at Lewis University, but she won't be getting a diploma, which she needs to enroll in air traffic controller training in March, according to her father.
Even though she has met all the requirements for a diploma, it's being held up because Illinois hasn't paid the $2,500 it owes for her Monetary Award Program grant due to the ongoing state budget impasse.
"The state needs to realize that there's families like us that are living paycheck to paycheck," said her father, Dan. "Our savings are very little money. Our tax bills are rising."
Dan said the family might use its savings to pay the $2,500 so his daughter can get her diploma, but they had previously set that money aside for property taxes.