Illinois' nine public universities have gone four months without money from the state. University presidents have said it's putting their institutions "at the brink of serious operational damage."
University of Illinois President Tim Killeen spoke to a reporter as he was leaving the governor's office.
"We had a very candid conversation about, about strategies going forward."
Killeen says that did not include any guarantee the schools will get their money anytime soon.
Western Illinois University President Jack Thomas says he realizes Rauner inherited a fiscal mess and wants to fix it.
"We want to make sure that we don't sacrifice our students and, and higher education."
Earlier this year, Rauner proposed cutting higher education by 30-percent.
Southern Illinois University's Randy Dunn said the governor didn't double down on that.
"The take I had from the meeting is, as all the parties come together to come to a resolution to this, everything's on the table for discussion."
As in -- just how much universities will get from the state, and when, depends on how and when the partisan gridlock is broken.
