Illinois State University President Al Bowman says about 2,200 of the school's employees will get merit-based raises that average 3%.

Bowman said Monday that the $78.8 million the state will provide the university for the coming school year is down slightly from last year. But Bowman says the decrease is slight enough to allow modest raises.

Bowman says finances at the university in Normal are stable even given the state's struggles to pay its bills. State money for universities and a range of other agencies, programs and institutions has been running months behind as lawmakers struggle to deal with a multibillion-dollar budget deficit.

Illinois State spokesman Jay Groves says another 1,050 union-covered employees won't get the raises. Their pay is covered by their contracts with the university.