Iowa City Press Citizen, IA
06-21-06
Extra fee OK'd for students
$200 surcharge will pay for energy, faculty raises
By Gregg Hennigan
Iowa City Press-Citizen
AMES -- In an apparently unprecedented move, the Iowa state Board of Regents
on Tuesday approved a $100 a semester surcharge for the upcoming school
year on full-time students at Iowa's three public universities.
The nine regents unanimously passed the measure, saying the estimated $10.9
million it would generate is needed to offset lower-than-expected state funding
and soaring energy costs at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and
the University of Northern Iowa.
The money will be used to address those energy costs, increase faculty salaries,
and help with library acquisitions and hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred
maintenance at the three schools.
Board executive director Gary Steinke, in an interview last week, admitted the
surcharge was "unusual."
"We can't find another time when there was a surcharge," he said. "We also can't
find another time when the energy costs were so high."
For example, since 2003, the price UI pays for natural gas is up 115 percent, UI
Vice President for Finance Doug True said.
The addition of the surcharge means most in-state undergraduate students at UI
will pay $6,065 in tuition and fees for the 2006-2007 school year. Most
nonresident undergrads will pay $18,289.
The surcharge will be prorated for part-time students based on the number of
credit hours taken.
The vote came after representatives from the undergraduate student
governments spoke to the board and cautiously supported the surcharge, which
would be a one-time fee.
"We feel that if we keep adding student fees and surcharges, that this will
become a bad habit," said Emily Jensen, president of the ISU Government of
the Student Body.
UNI Student Government President Grant Erwin said tuition and fees at the three
schools have increased more than 90 percent the past six years.
The student leaders asked the regents for support in student-led lobbying efforts
and to re-evaluate the legislative approach taken by the regents.
The regents asked the Legislature for $40 million in new operating appropriations
for next year. Instead, the Legislature provided $11 million in new money, plus $9
million in one-time funding and $20 million for economic development projects.
UI Student Government President Pete McElligott also called for campus-led
"green initiatives" to cut down on energy consumption. One such effort would be
a competition at UI between residence halls to see who could conserve the most
energy.
Board President Michael Gartner of Des Moines and other regents expressed
support for the students' proposals.
But Johnathan Gajdos, president of the UI Graduate Student Senate, warned
that the surcharge would hurt UI's 5,000 graduate students. Currently, UI is the
only Big Ten school that does not provide full tuition support for graduate
assistants, and this would make attending UI even more expensive, he said.
"This low level of support hurts the state by making it difficult to recruit and
support graduate students," Gajdos said.