That was the worry for students, but the reality is that the burden of recouping those lost dollars falls squarely on the schools themselves.

“Some students would stop and withdraw for the semester, but for most, we would provide support through extended payment plans, loans, work, and in extreme cases, replacement of some of the lost MAP dollars through the university’s mission fund,” said Raymond R. Kennelly, Lewis’ vice president for enrollment management.

This is good for students, but not so good for the colleges and universities. At a point in the year where classes are set and housing is assigned, the costs to the university remains about the same, whether the room is filled or not, leaving university officials to decide whether to defer payment for the students, pull dollars from another source or lose them all together.

At Lewis, approximately 1,200 undergraduates out of 5,000 receive the MAP grant, equating to $5.5 million of financial support each year.

“If spring awards were not available, our students would lose half that amount,” Kennelly said. “The burden of the remaining $2 million would fall directly on the backs of the institution.”

Two-million dollars can be hard to come by, as colleges like Lewis grapple with technology and campus improvements which drive operation costs higher.

“If the cuts occurred and we lost students and had to provide more financial aid, we would have to revisit our budget assumptions and reallocate dollars,” Kennelly said, “which means some planned expenditures and initiatives would have to be delayed.”

Yet how does a college choose what to delay? In today’s down economy, more students are enrolling in college programs and that means demands on facilities, technology and energy. Campuses across the suburban market saw record increases in enrollment this fall, and officials are often struggling to care for them all.

“In some ways, it’s the arms race,” said Robert Head, president of Rockford University. “One college builds a $5 million student center, and the one down the street builds a $25 million athletic center. You have to keep up. And more and more things related to student life are increasing the bottom line.”

For Head, the competition is fierce. The Rockford market now mirrors the western suburbs in its offerings of colleges, as a host of Chicago and other Midwestern universities are setting up shop in the growing city.

“I don’t think this market can sustain it,” Head said. “The numbers look good. Rockford has more people with an associate’s degree than other community in Illinois. But it also has the lowest percentage of four-year degrees.”

That’s a challenge, said Head, but it could be an opportunity for adult and degree completion programs, if colleges can meet the needs of this subgroup of undergrads.

One such need is accessibility, seen clearly via the rise in popularity of online education. It also presents a new challenge for brick and mortar schools, which now are rushing to provide remote options.

“As online education grows, we need to make sure it is available and secure. You need to scale up to provide these things remotely,” said Darlene Sumida, associate director for IT infrastructure and planning at Benedictine University.

Other technology priorities resonate as well.

“What if H1N1 closes part of the school? Does the online capability we provide now carry the load if every student is sitting outside the firewall? No it doesn’t,” Sumida said. “You plan your Internet capacity based on sustained peak levels. You can’t buy service to that level of capacity. It’s not affordable.”

But for many students with ready access to state-of-the-art technology in their work and personal lives, it is expected.

“Trying to make intelligent purchase and deployment decisions is incredibly challenging. You must have a long-term eye on a short-term industry,” said Sumida. “But it must be done, because students today demand it.

“My greatest challenge is keeping pace with technology in intelligent ways. When I arrived here three years ago, there was no wireless Internet. It seemed simple and everyone agreed, yes, let’s get it. But how do we get it? When do we need it? And how much do we need?”

It would cost $90,000 just to put wireless access into the college’s apartment housing, she said. Technology runs up energy costs as well, even in the most efficient of systems.

“Form is getting smaller and smaller,” said Sumida. “In 2000, you would put in a really powerful server and it would be 60 pounds, 24 inches tall, 19 inches wide. Today, that same really powerful server would come in the size of a large wallet. But they throw more heat. One device, now so much smaller, needs the same power as ten older ones.

“We are utilizing heating and cooling and power delivery systems that were dreamed up 10 years ago, and I am running into problems,” she added. “If I want to add power, I have to add another breaker panel. Plus the HVAC isn’t adequate.”

Yet if a college can be successful at meeting or exceeding the student demands, the payoff may help pay the bills down the line in the form of alumni contributions. That’s the goal, but in a tough economic climate, even the most satisfying relationship can come up empty handed.

At Northern Illinois University’s College of Business, fund raising executives like Anthony D’Andrea are working hard to stay in contact with alumni and donors. 

“Some alumni are waiting for a little more economic certainty before they make their gifts and some corporate donors have deferred their support for a few years due to budget and personnel cuts,” D’Andrea said.

“The key is to have a robust and engaged constituency, which is the case at NIU. When times are difficult, it is important to stay connected to your various constituencies to ensure you understand their situation. There are still donors who can make significant gifts right now, so you can't let the gloom and doom dampen your enthusiasm.” 

For those deferring, the college invites them back to campus for events, football games and performances, keeping them involved and active in the organization.

“In the College of Business, we have an e-mentor program that assigns alumni with students for mentioning advice over e-mail,” D’Andrea said. 

Also, alumni executives participate in the Executive in Residence Program, where they are matched with a faculty member for a day.

“There are many other volunteer activities that don't require alumni and friends to write checks,” he said. “While giving is important, there are other ways alumni can contribute to our mission.”

In the meantime, Lewis, Benedictine, Rockford, NIU and many others schools in the Chicago market will continue to struggle over operational decisions, contemplating the ups and downs of the initiatives they choose to fund, and sacrificing some valuable projects to make room for the necessities, much like any local business.

“Every day I think about the best, newest, coolest, most functional technology. But there’s no good way to get that and deploy it to the campus,” Sumida said. “Yet I want it to be as good here as at their homes. They are demanding it, and I am desperately sincere about this.”