DeKalb Times

Rep. Robert Pritchard (R-Hinckley) applauded a House effort to keep talented students in Illinois but said House Bill 230 was not the way to do it.

“I would suggest that the goal is laudable [but] the solution misses the mark,” Pritchard said. “Students are leaving the state for a variety of reason, not the least of which that they were not admitted. Northern Illinois University admits just about every student who applies.”

The measure, which would require public universities to admit the top 10 percent of high school students in a graduating class, failed to pass the House on Tuesday, with many Republican representatives labeling it as government interference in college admissions. 

HB230 is sponsored by Rep. Andre Thapedi (D-Chicago), who argued that it is meant to increase diversity in universities and retain encourage students to stay in Illinois. 

“If you’re like me, for the retention of our best and brightest students here in Illinois and stopping them from fleeing to Ann Arbor, Lansing, Bloomington, Indiana, or Colombia, Missouri, to never come back, you should vote 'yes,'" Thapedi said. "If you’re for diversifying our universities so that our kids are prepared to compete in this global economy, you should vote 'yes.' This bill is about our kids. This bill is about our state. To teach our kids, we have to reach our kids.”

Pritchard, however, echoed what many of his Republican colleagues said: The bill does not account for readiness.

“And yet when those students go to that institution, they fall into the category [of] remediation,” he said. “When they go through remediation, national data and Illinois data suggests that those students are going to be very unlikely to ever complete. So we’ve entered a student into a higher education institution that will incur lots of debt with never having a real shot at graduation. I applaud the goal, but I say the answer misses the mark.” 

Other representatives, including Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) and Steven Andersson (R-Geneva), argued that the bill imposes the will of the government on the college admission process. The universities should be the sole decider of a student’s admission, they said.

HB230 failed to pass, on a 53-54 vote. Thapedi requested a postponed consideration.