Travel-expense rules at community colleges in Illinois vary widely, and so do the bills the colleges pick up for their elected trustees, the Daily Herald, a newspaper in Arlington Heights, Ill., reported.

In a review of expense records from 59 out-of-town trips made by officials of seven community colleges in suburbs north and west of Chicago, the newspaper found a variety of spending rules, from strict $30-per-day food allowances to no rules at all. It compares two colleges’ expenses at a three-day conference in Washington, D.C., last year. Six board members from the College of Lake County attended and spent $3,325 on food and room service, while two trustees of Oakton Community College attended and spent a total of $134 on food and beverages.

None of the expenses were illegal, but critics say they show the need for specific rules or per diems, especially when community colleges are tightening budgets and raising fees. Travel rules at public universities, meanwhile, allow a maximum of $28 per day for out-of-town expenses, with no payback for alcohol or spouses’ spending.