Hunter
03/28/24
The Campaign to Organize Graduate Students at the University of Iowa protested on the Pentacrest Wednesday during the school’s “One Day for Iowa” fundraising event after their demands that graduate student worker fees be eliminated were denied.
The Daily Iowan reports the March 20th reply to a petition signed by over 1000 members delivered to President Barbara Wilson’s office said, “Because mandatory student fees are assessed based on an enrollee’s student status, they are not eligible for waiver.” The reply also referenced the fact that COGS workers get a 50 percent mandatory student fee scholarship and most or all of their tuition covered.
The union says the fees have continued to increase since the 50 percent discount was negotiated, and are now over $1900 per academic year. The petition, which is still being circulated, says the fees amount to thousands of dollars throughout a graduate school education, and keep workers in poverty and debt.
University officials told the Cedar Rapids Gazette that data from the Big Ten Academic Alliance shows the U of I in the middle of the pack in graduate student stipends and highly competitive with other Midwest Big Ten schools when cost of living is factored in.
At Wednesday’s event, the COGS workers claimed the University has plenty of resources to finance operations without charging graduate workers.