University of Iowa scholarship cuts criticized
AMES — Students, parents and legislators are all unhappy about the University of Iowa’s move to eliminate 2,500 scholarships in response to funding cuts, but there is disagreement about who is to blame.
There’s wide disagreement on whether the target of such exasperation should be the state Legislature’s Republican leadership, Gov. Terry Branstad or university president Bruce Harreld, the Iowa City Press-Citizen reported.
The Legislature last month approved an $18 million mid-year cut to the three public universities the Iowa Board of Regents oversees. The University of Iowa and Iowa State University both must trim spending by $8 million over the next month, and the remaining $2 million falls on the University of Northern Iowa.
To address long-term effects of the cuts, Harreld is ending $4.3 million in non-merit, non-needs-based scholarships the university began offering before the 2015-16 academic year.