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Iowa Board of Regents proposes tuition hikes

Students at Iowa’s public universities would see higher tuition and fee rates for the upcoming school year under a new proposal by the Board of Regents.

The Board of Regents, governing body for the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa, will meet Thursday to hold a first reading of a tuition hike proposal. Under the plan, resident undergraduates at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University would see a 3.5 percent increase in tuition for the 2021-2022 school year. In-state undergraduates at the University of Northern Iowa would have a 1.5 percent increase.

The tuition hike comes after two tumultuous years for the Regents universities. The state Legislature voted in June 2020 to cut the Regents budget by $8 million for fiscal year 2021, just weeks after the Board of Regents voted to freeze tuition and fees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, the Board of Regents requested an $18 million funding increase and a restoration of the $8 million cut. Instead, lawmakers voted to give the universities no additional funding for fiscal year 2022.

Students in different programs would see various fee and tuition increases. More expensive graduate programs, including the University of Iowa dentistry program and Iowa State’s veterinary school, would cost several thousand dollars more.

Student leaders at the Regents institutions told the Iowa Capital Dispatch in May they were disappointed state lawmakers chose not to increase funding for the upcoming year.

“As someone who grew up in Iowa and wants to maybe have children who I want to go to college, I want to live somewhere where they value education,” said Regan Smock, University of Iowa undergraduate student president. “The lack of funding definitely communicates that it’s not an important part of our state.”

The Board of Regents will vote on the tuition hike on July 28.

Iowa Board of Regents proposes tuition hikes for public universities

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