More than a century ago, Illinois Gov. John Altgeld talked about making Illinois' higher education a beacon "that will hold aloft the flame of American civilization so that all people in the world may be blessed by its light."

Altgeld was talking about the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, but he was also a friend to the state's other universities. Tour any of the older campuses today and you will see a majestic stone building -- often named Altgeld Hall -- that is his legacy.

But in recent years, the state has repeatedly cut back on the fuel for Altgeld's beacons, threatening to diminish their light. And now university officials worry that it is the state's entire higher education system that may go up in flames.

After seven years of steadily cutting the higher education budget, the state on July 1 stopped regular payments altogether. And while there used to be a capital bill every year to pay for new facilities, this year's was the first capital bill for university facilities in about 10 years, and much of that money has not been released to the universities.