URBANA -- The University of Illinois has received only a small fraction of the $317 million it is owed by the state for this fiscal year and has effectively frozen many open positions.

University spokesman Tom Hardy says the state's government has paid the school only $400,000 so far as it wrestles with a budget deficit.

Hardy says open positions that normally would have quickly been filled now require approval from a high-ranking administrator.

Outgoing university President B. Joseph White says furloughs are becoming an increasingly likely possibility for employees. The university set up a plan last summer to furlough workers if needed.