Des Moines Register
11-04-06
Higher tuition likely at public universities
The Iowa Board of Regents will consider proposed increases of 3.3% to 12.7%.
By ERIN JORDAN
REGISTER IOWA CITY BUREAU
Students at Iowa's three public universities likely will pay more next school year
for tuition and fees under proposals submitted by each university's president.
The presidents are asking the Iowa Board of Regents to increase tuition between
3.3 percent and 12.7 percent. The Regents will discuss the tuition increase
requests next week.
The 2007-08 tuition proposal, on which the regents will vote in December,
includes larger increases for the University of Iowa and Iowa State University
than were put in place for this academic year.
Tuition and fee proposals for undergraduate students for the 2007-08 school year
include:
- A 6.1 percent increase in tuition and fees at the U of I for resident
undergraduates. They would pay $6,273 a year, up $358 from this year.
Nonresident undergraduates at the U of I would pay $19,455, up 7.2 percent, or
$1,306, from this year.
- A 5.1 percent increase for resident undergraduates at ISU. They would pay
$6,161, up $301 from this year. ISU's nonresident undergraduates would pay
$16,918, up 3.5 percent, or $585, from this year.
- A 4.7 percent tuition and fee increase for resident undergraduates at the
University of Northern Iowa. They would pay $6,190, up $278 from this year.
Nonresident undergraduates at UNI would pay $14,282, up 3.3 percent, or $454,
from this year.
Nonresident students, both undergraduate and graduate, at UNI would see the
smallest increase, at 3.3 percent. The largest increases, at 12.7 percent and 12.4
per- cent, would hit resident undergraduates studying engineering at the U of I
and ISU.
Tuition increases can be especially difficult for out-of-state students. Catherine
Gaa of Wheaton, Ill., said when she decided to attend the U of I more than three
years ago, her parents forked over $7,642 for the fall 2003 semester.
"Iowa was the least expensive" of the out-of-state schools she considered, said
Gaa, 21.
This fall, Gaa and her parents faced tuition costs almost $1,500 higher than her
first semester.
Gaa has snagged a number of scholarships, but she said they amount to only a
drop in the bucket.
"When you look at the overall (bill) and everything that goes along with living and
going to school in Iowa City, it's really not a big dent," she said.
Last year was the first time university presidents proposed separate percentage
increases for their individual institutions.
It was also the first time junior and senior engineering students were charged
differential tuition. Money raised from the larger increases is used to hire
additional faculty, update laboratories and equipment, and provide students with
more research opportunities.
The regents meet Wednesday and Thursday in Ames.
Also next week, the board will hear a proposal to drop a long-standing rule that
Iowa's public universities admit the top half of Iowa's high school graduates.
The Admissions Study Team, a group of university administrators and a regent
staff member, recommends the board replace the so-called 50 percent rule, with
a formula that includes ACT scores, class rank, GPA and the number of core
subject area courses taken in high school.
"The goal of the admissions process is to enroll students at the three Regent
universities who have a reasonable probability of academic success," the team
reported to the board.
"The team's data analyses showed the importance of using multiple factors in the
admissions process."
Some regents said in September that the 50 percent rule, implemented in 1958,
may lead some high school students to avoid rigorous classes, such as physics
or college mathematics, because they don't want to fall in the bottom half of their
graduating classes.
Research shows that students who take rigorous classes - even if they don't do
well - are more successful in college.
Regents will vote on the admissions policy change in December.
Correspondent Erika Binegar contributed to this article.