CHARLESTON - Eastern Illinois University avoided cuts in state aid during 2005, but university officials again were forced to raise tuition in the face of financial difficulties.

"It's another year of downturns and flat budgets," said Jeff Cooley, vice president for business affairs at EIU.

Meanwhile, a change to the university employees' pension system - proposed by the governor but contested by an alliance of conservative lawmakers and professors - never fully materialized. However, the compromise resulted in the creation of a "two-tiered" pension system with a different formula for calculating new employees' benefits.

"That's just silly," said state Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet. "It's a slap in the face of people who are currently working for the state of Illinois."

Gov. Rod Blagojevich originally outlined sweeping changes to the pension system that he said would save millions and help balance the state budget. Following a sizeable outcry, the governor and a majority of legislators agreed instead to a "holiday" in payments to the pension system, diverting the funds instead to the general budget.

"The people who voted for it continue to defend it," said state Sen. Dale Righter, R-Charleston. "That pension bill could be described as many things. 'The right thing to do' is not one of them."

University employees opposed the pension plan in particular because it called for a recalculation - and likely reduction - of their retirement benefits.

As a result of the compromise, only new hires will be part of the new benefits formula, although the responsibility for determining current employees' benefits has been moved from the State University Retirement System to the state comptroller.

"The negative impact is we now have a two-tiered system," said Cooley. "We're concerned about what effect that may have on our ability to recruit, especially out of state."

With the pension debate ongoing, the EIU Board of Trustees again raised tuition for most students (other than those protected by the "truth in tuition" four-year freeze on rates), citing another year without an increase in state aid.

The General Assembly voted to give public universities the same amount of funding as the previous year, although costs in other areas such as health insurance have risen for schools such as EIU.

On the positive side, EIU's fall enrollment topped the 12,000 mark for the first time. Also, EIU officials reported increased donations from alumni and other philanthropists.

Specifically, the university has almost reached the $10 million goal of a three-year fund drive, with a half-year still remaining in the campaign.

Nathaniel West can be reached at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.