Sally Mason: University of Iowa focused on recruiting and outcomes

Just days after Gov. Terry Branstad voiced support for a new Board of Regents funding model that ties more money to in-state students, and thus could take millions from the University of Iowa, UI President Sally Mason said her staff is gearing up recruit more Iowans.

Mason, while speaking with members of the media Thursday, said the university hasn't been in a good position to increase its student body in the last six years - following devastating flooding in 2008. But now, she said, it's poised for a growth spurt.

'For me, it's rather exciting to think about opportunities to grow,” she said.

The university next week plans to roll out a new recruiting campaign focused on reaching prospective students in every corner of the state. Still, Mason said Thursday, the UI will not ignore its out-of-state and international students.

'I don't want to, in any way, send a message, especially to our international students or our Illinois students or students from anywhere else in the country, that somehow we don't want them,” Mason said. 'We do. We do for lots of reasons, not the least of which is they bring great diversity to our community, and we value that.”

A report also made public Thursday by the Iowa College Student Aid Commission indicates that maintaining a balance of in-state and out-of-state students will be necessary. The commission's Condition of Higher Education in Iowa 2014 report indicates that Iowa students in the 'college pipeline” are projected to decrease in number.

While the National Center for Education Statistics projects a slight increase in Iowa's high school graduates though 2021-22, Iowa's under-18 populace is expected to decline through 2030.

And the report indicates that more of the state's jobs will require some form of college education by 2018. To be exact, 62 percent of all jobs in the state are expected to require postsecondary education in four years, while less than 36 percent of Iowa's current working-age population holds an associate degree or higher.

In hopes of better supporting in-state students and public universities' efforts to educate them, the Board of Regents last month approved a new way of allocating state dollars tying 60 percent of the money to in-state enrollment.

A regents-commissioned task force that recommended the 'performance-based funding” metrics said Iowa's current funding model creates an incentive to overlook Iowa students and favor out-of-state students who pay higher tuition.

The new funding approach, which will be rolled out over a three-year period beginning in 2016, ties the remaining 40 percent of state appropriations to progress and degree attainment, access, job placement, research, and other factors.

Although Mason has said the UI plans to enroll more in-state students, she said on Thursday that 'performance” in her mind hinges on outcomes, like graduation rates.

'For me, performance really is all about outcomes, and outcomes in this case - graduation,” Mason said. 'For me, it's really about helping students graduate in four years or less.”

To that end, Mason said, the UI has launched a new 'Summer Hawk Tuition Grant” program that lets first-year, first-time students who entered the university in or after summer 2013 to take up to 12 semester hours for free.

The program covers tuition for up to 12 credit hours of summer courses for Iowa residents. Non-resident students signed up for more than four semester hours can receive the difference between resident and non-resident tuition.

This summer, Mason said, about 300 students are taking advantage of the program, costing the UI about $1 million to subsidize. The 12 free summer semester hours must be used within four years of admission, which gets to the heart of the scholarship, Mason said.

'Our focus for the last six years has really been on improving what we call student success, or how students progress through their academic careers to that end result of a college degree,” she said.

Some students might be using the program get a 'leg up” on academic requirements.

'In some cases, it's really to reduce expense,” Mason said. 'That was one of our goals, to reduce the time and expense of getting to the end results of a four-year college education.”

According to the UI Office of Student Financial Aid, shaving off a year of college could save the average Iowan about $20,000 and the average non-resident about $40,000

The program also could benefit the university by helping more students graduate in four years - saving on the cost to educating them.

'This is an opportunity to also increase the number of students who are taking advantage of summer school,” Mason said.

l Comments: (319) 339-3106; vanessa.miller@sourcemedia.net