By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com
Illinois Commitment Website
Commitment is a word that has multiple definitions in the realm of intercollegiate athletics.
In the arenas and classrooms, a student-athlete commits himself or herself to improve personal skills through an obligation of perseverance and effort.
In recruiting, when a high school or junior college athlete verbally commits, the word commitment is a general understanding is he is declaring his intention to enroll at a specific university.
Today, through its announcement of the Illinois Commitment, the University of Illinois gave additional meaning to the word, promising free tuition and campus fees to state of Illinois residents who are new college freshmen and transfers and whose families have a combined household income of $61,000 or less.
Beginning in Fall 2019, UI will become the first public university in the state to provide young adults from Illinois with scholarships and grants to cover tuition and fees for up to four years or eight semesters of continuous enrollment (or three years and six semesters of continuous enrollment for new transfers).
Prior to this new arrangement, the University has been able to allot considerable funds toward student aid, primarily to students who have financial need and to those who have merited assistance through high academic achievement.
However, says Kevin Pitts, vice provost for undergraduate education, there is still a lot of need that the U of I has been unable to fulfill.
"We estimate that there's something like $130 million a year in unmet financial need," he said, "That's the money that translates into long-term student debt. We're concerned about the first-generation college students who come from low-income families. They don't have anyone that can help them navigate the expense of a college education."
Part of the idea behind Illinois Commitment is to help simplify the concept of financial aid.
"Basically, we're telling them, 'Yes, it's expensive to go to college, but, in fact, you're going to get a lot of money to help you go to college'", Pitts said. "This commitment will, at the very least, allow them to cover tuition and fees. It's a really important step to help lower-income students get into the pipeline, encouraging them to apply and helping them get a degree."
Director of Athletics Josh Whitman enthusiastically applauds Illinois Commitment and what it means for all prospective UI students.
"I am excited by the University's dedication to providing a world-class education to students from our state, regardless of their financial situation," Whitman said. "The Illinois Commitment demonstrates a major investment by our institution into our state's most valuable resource, our young people, and removes another barrier to their attendance at one of the nation's great institutions."
UI's new financial aid program could have significant ramifications on Illinois's "equivalency" sports such as baseball, softball, track and field, and others where coaches are dividing their scholarships up as they wish, as long as they do not exceed the total allowable value.
"For sports that do not have full soup-to-nuts scholarship support, this new program will definitely help," Pitts said. "Hopefully, we won't have low-income students who are discouraged from attending Illinois because of costs. Because Illinois Commitment is exclusively need based, we're not looking at anyone's GPA (grade point average) or SAT (scholastic assessment test) score; we are only looking at their financial need."
Division I baseball programs, which under NCAA guidelines are defined as an equivalency sport, are allowed a total of 11.7 scholarships. Coach Dan Hartleb's Illini team is allowed to have a total of 35 players on its roster. Of those 35, 27 may receive scholarship funds. However, none of Hartleb's athletes received aid that included the full amount of tuition, books, and room and board. With the Illinois Commitment in place by 2019, tuition and fees will be automatically covered for in-state student-athletes, allowing DIA funding to cover other educational expenses.
"With a school of our stature and its great academics, we've never had the opportunity to go out and help some kids from families that aren't as well off," Hartleb said. "Illinois Commitment is a step in the right direction to help some kids who otherwise would have never had the opportunity to go to school at the University of Illinois. This will help future generations for a lifetime."
Mike Turk, who's entering his eighth season as head coach of the Illini men's and women's track and field squads, agrees wholeheartedly with Hartleb's assessment.
"From a broad perspective, this type of a financial aid program is long overdue," Turk said. "During my thirty-four years in athletics, I've seen many kids leave the state because they just couldn't afford to attend the University of Illinois.
"As the state's flagship school, for us to be able to keep the most talented kids is really exciting. Track and field is the biggest and most diverse of all of the equivalency sports and I have no doubt that the Illinois Commitment will have a big impact on our program. As for the individuals themselves, upon the conclusion of their education, they'll be able to start their professional careers without having had acquired a mountain of debt."
