Things at Chicago State University are so dire that they’re in a hurry to conclude the semester.

ABC 7 reports.

Chicago State University Spring Break Cancelled Due To Budget Impasse

Thousands of Chicago State University students are being forced to change their spring break plans because of lack of state funding.

School officials confirm they are accelerating the semester and cancelling spring break, which was scheduled for March 14-19, due to the Illinois state budget impasse. Graduation has also been moved up to April 28 from May 12.

“The university is trying to finish the semester by any means necessary,” says CSU senior Charles Preston.

Preston, a senior, had his sights set on the Florida sun and the sand

“I bought a plane ticket to Miami to visit my girlfriend,” he says.

The state has had no budget since July 2015, which has deprived all public colleges and universities of their state funding. CSU’s state funding comprises 30 percent of their budget, and the school is particularly hard hit because they do not have the monetary reserves of other Illinois colleges. Their reserves are expected to run out at the end of March, possibly leaving the school’s students – who are primarily minority students – in limbo.

“Chicago State University is in a state of financial exigency which allows us to make budget, rather operating adjustments, cost reductions, in order to continue to operate,” CSU President Thomas Calhoun says.

With no end to the budget impasse in sight, Calhoun says the school is trying to come up with ways to save money for the following school year.

“We’re looking at how to be efficient in the summer. We have a number of buildings on campus that are really minimally used, we can close those,” he says.


 
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