Gov. Pat Quinn vowed Thursday at Black Hawk College in Moline to do whatever it takes to restore college grant funding to low-income students as early as next week or at the latest by the end of the month.

Quinn told the standing-room-only crowd of an estimated 250 Black Hawk College students and concerned community members who attended his "Rally to Save College Scholarships" they had to join in a bi-partisan way to restore Monetary Award Program grant funding to students who count on it.

"We have to win this battle. This is a citizen battle. This is a battle of everyday people who live from pay check to pay check, who want to go to college, who have good work academically," he said. "They may be going to a community college, they may be going to Augustana College, a private university or maybe a public university ... but this is our cause."

An estimated 800 BHC students stand to lose a total of $400,000 in MAP funding for the spring 2010 semester. Statewide, cuts to the MAP programs means about 140,000 students will lose grant funding for the spring semester unless legislators can restore the $200 million needed to fund them.

The governor's stop in Moline was one of several visits to colleges to reach out to concerned students and community members. He urged the students at the rally, many of whom were holding signs and wearing stickers asking the governor to "Save Illinois Map grants," to attend the Springfield rally Oct. 15 at the Capitol Building and write their legislators.

A former Illinois community college teacher at Prairie State and Triton, Quinn said he continues to be inspired by the dedicated students who are working to improve their skills and their education. He said many of the students he taught benefited from the MAP grants and he stressed the importance of sustaining the program, which has been around for 50 years.

"It invests in the hardworking people of Illinois who want to do better and learn more so it's very, very important that we rescue and protect this program," Quinn said.

Silvis resident Nicole Ince is one of those hardworking MAP recipients who shared her story at the rally Thursday. The Silvis resident and mother of a 5-year-old is a veteran who depends on the GI Bill and MAP funding to complete her education at BHC.

"Six hundred dollars to me means a lot more than a bill in the house, really," she said. "I don't have the time or the resources to go and find a second job because I have to be a mother, and I have to pass my classes, and I want to graduate. I have one semester left and taking the $600 away could possibly mean that two classes short of my degree, I don't graduate."

In Ince's house, she said, $600 means two months of rent, four months of groceries, four and a half months of electricity, 22.5 months of water bills and three months of reliable transportation.

"As students we're not asking for a hand out. We want to be positive contributing members of society," she said. "All we're asking for is a hand up."

BHC student Eva Gonzalez told rally attendees the loss of MAP funding would mean she could not attend one out of four classes and she would not be able to finish her degree in two years. The East Moline resident said if students lose funding, teachers lose jobs.

Rose Campbell, BHC executive vice president, also framed the importantance of the MAP grants to BHC students. She said the annual income of student and spouse of a typical BHC MAP recipient who lives on their own is only $17,000; and a student who lives at home has an annual combined student and parent income of $24,000. According to college spokeswoman Holly Smith, $610 is enough to cover tuition and fees for slightly more than six credit hours or two classes.

Rep. Pat Verschoore, D-Milan, said his office has been getting swamped with e-mails, letters and phone calls concerned about MAP funding for next semester. The feedback he's getting, Verschoore said, is that the money is absolutely necessary for a lot of kids who won't be able to continue their education. Verschoore said he wishes Gov. Quinn would have used some of the $1.2 billion in discretionary funding allotted to restore the grants.

Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, also placed blamed on Quinn for not using his discretionary funding for MAP grants, but he does believe the state legislature will find the money in time for students.

"Look this is a penny wise and a pound foolish. The worst thing that can happen is that you could be in a situation where kids aren't allowed to go to school. I mean that's regressive to the state," he said. "So you know the governor has power and we've given him the money to pay this, but the governor has chosen thus far not to and now we hear protesting about the cuts."

Quinn said his critics are correct that zero dollars of the $1.2 billion discretionary funding went to the MAP grants, but that was because his first priority was to capture as many federal matching dollars for Medicare, fund early childhood and adult education, and other healthcare and public safety needs.

"We had a billion dollars of discretionary money to fulfill $3 billion worth of holes. The Legislature didn't want to make any cuts," he said. "I told them when this happened that I'll bear the weight of making sure we get through this tough time and invest in healthcare, but we have to come back in October and get more revenue for things like the MAP grant."

Possible funding mechanisms for restoring grant funding have included a tobacco tax, an income tax hike, a tax amnesty program which could generate $100 million-plus or a bond program.

Quinn said he came into office with a $10 billion-plus deficit. He's worked to direct revenue to important causes, stabilize the state, and solve revenue problems. He said securing MAP grant funding is not a partisan issue and he does not have an adversarial relationship with the legislature.

"We can't having fighting and friction, and sniping and name calling," he said. "That really doesn't get much accomplished we're after outcomes in Illinois."