Regents and student leaders support a UI tuition increase.
By Katelyn Weisbrod
The tuition-freeze train may finally come to the end of the line.
The state Board of Regents will vote in December on whether to approve a $200 increase — about 3 percent — in tuition at the UI for in-state undergraduate students next school year, while freezing tuition for such students at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa. The cost would ring in at $6,878.
Other students across the three institutions would see increased tuition, while all students would pay more in fees.
At the regents’ meeting on Thursday, both UI Student Government President Liz Mills and UI Graduate and Professional Student Government President Joshua Schoenfeld said they supported the increase.
“At this point in time, it is clear the university is in need of increased funding so as not to affect the quality of the education we are able to offer,” Schoenfeld said. “I support this modest increase in tuition under the premise that the conversation and focus of how we fund our universities has to change. We need to ensure that higher education continues to be affordable, and more importantly, accessible for generations to come.”
However, Schoenfeld said, he wants the conversation to be moved from percentages to securing more funding from the state and other revenue streams. Tuition has skyrocketed in recent years as state funding has precipitously dropped.
“I believe tuition increases should be kept to a minimum,” he said. “Although a 3 percent increase for undergraduates and a 1.9 percent increase for graduate students seems reasonable, repeating this process every year, is not.”
In September, the regents voted to freeze tuition at UI for the spring 2016 semester and raise it at ISU and UNI by $100.
“This was the best avenue for UI students as they now have a predictable tuition rate they were expecting for the remainder of this school year,” Mills said. “Now, I believe we have reached the point that in order to maintain the quality of education at the University of Iowa, a modest increase in tuition can help the university go to the next level.”
Regent President Bruce Rastetter and Regent President Pro Tem Katie Mulholland both said in a press conference they would likely vote in favor of the tuition increase at the UI in December.
“We listen very carefully to what the students say, and our bottom line is really to get the best for the students,” Mulholland said. “Though we never want to cost families more money, I would have to say, based on the comments from the students and administration, I will stand in support of it today. We know that economic times are going to be increasingly tighter at the university than they were last year.”
Mills said it’s more important than ever for UI students to have a strong faculty mentors as the leadership at the UI transfers to incoming President Bruce Harreld.
“Making sure our professors and teachers are paid competitively to national rates and recruiting even more excellent mentors is a top priority, and the small tuition increase can help make this possible,” Mills said. “Students will see the investment in their education through what they can learn and gain from these top teachers and researchers.”
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