Iowa City Press Citizen, IA
05-20-06
Regents to consider surcharge
UI students could pay extra $100 a semester if approved
By Gregg Hennigan
Iowa City Press-Citizen
Full-time students at Iowa's three public universities would pay a $100 surcharge
each semester next school year under a proposal to be considered by the Iowa
state Board of Regents next month.
The plan, expected to generate $10.9 million for the 2006-07 academic year, was
submitted by the presidents of the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and
the University of Northern Iowa and board staff as a way to offset lower-thanexpected funding from the state for the upcoming budget year.
"It's disappointing, but it's part of the reality we're living in now with a Legislature
not willing to fund higher education," said Peter McElligott, president of UI
Student Government.
The money would be used to address rising energy costs, the need to increase
faculty salaries, library acquisitions and hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred
maintenance at the three schools.
The universities also would make an effort to reduce energy consumption on the
campuses.
The regents will vote on the measure June 20 at a meeting in Ames.
If approved, most in-state undergraduate students at UI would pay $6,065 in
tuition, fees and the surcharge for the year. The price to attend UI for most
nonresident undergraduates would increase to $18,289.
The surcharge would be prorated for part-time students based on the number of
credit hours taken.
A memorandum from the board office said the surcharge would not be
considered tuition.
"I think it's an unfortunate result of both the energy crisis and the result of our not
having enough funding" from the state, Regent Amir Arbisser of Davenport said.
The regents asked the Legislature for $40 million in new operating appropriations
for next year as part of their so-called "transformation plan" in which the schools
promise to reallocate funds internally in exchange for keeping tuition increases
tied to the rate of inflation.
Instead, the Legislature provided $11 million in new money, plus $9 million in
one-time funding and $20 million for economic development projects.
Board executive director Gary Steinke said the $10.9 million from the proposed
surcharge would only offer a "short-term fix" to the problem. To correct it, the
universities need more state appropriations for their operating budgets, he said.
UI Provost Michael Hogan said that without the surcharge, the quality of the
education provided to students would suffer. Even with the surcharge, UI will
have to aggressively reallocate funds, which he said would likely mean not filling
open faculty and staff positions.
"I don't think it's an issue of being fair (to the students)," he said. "It's an issue
that we have to pay the bills."
In exchange for the surcharge and the conservation efforts, the universities
would agree to a three-year moratorium on requests for state funding for new
buildings. Some projects would be excluded from the moratorium, including a
new UI Hygienic Laboratory and the proposed College of Public Health building.