Hunter
06/21/22
Student leaders cited the shift in financial burden from the state to the students attending the three Iowa state-run universities in a meeting with the Board of Regents on Monday.
The Gazette reports that the Regents are considering a 4.25 percent increase for resident undergraduates this fall. UNI Student Government President Leila Masinovac said state funding is an investment into the future leaders of Iowa’s communities.
The regents say the rate hike is necessary because state lawmakers failed to grant their request for a $15 million increase in general education funding. They instead approved only $5.5 million, after giving no additional funding last year, and cutting $8 million in support during the pandemic.
Regent documents indicate that where Iowa state appropriations in 1981 accounted for more than 77 percent of university general education funding, and tuition made up 21 percent, now state funding today accounts for 34 percent while tuition makes up nearly 60 percent.
Factoring in inflation, University of Iowa Graduate and Professional Student Government President Riley Post said that appropriations are 45 percent lower than they were in 2009 while tuition has increased 41 percent, basically taking funding responsibilities away from the state and putting it on the backs of the students.
Monday was the first reading on the proposed tuition hike; final approval is scheduled for July 27th.