Branstad wants to slow tuition growth

PLEASANT HILL - Gov. Terry Branstad told a group of high-school students Monday he hoped state universities in Iowa could hold future tuition increases scale with the cost of living.

Branstad went to Southeast Polk High School to encourage more high schools to help seniors file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as a critical step to enrolling in college or career training after graduation. He called the program 'the gateway to most financial aid,” during his weekly news conference that he held at the school with students in attendance.

Filing a FAFSA can help students receive state and college-based financial aid and about 63 percent of high school seniors filed the application for the 2015-16 school year. Almost half of Iowans who file a FAFSA qualify for federal Pell Grants, and the average Pell award in Iowa for 2015-16 was $3,448. 

Monday's announcement came as the governor and Legislature are fashioning state budgets for the next two fiscal years. Branstad has recommended two percent increases in both years for K-12 education, regent universities and community colleges, but lawmakers only approved a 1.11 percent increase for K-12 education, which the governor then signed.

Members of the state Board of Regents have pointed to lackluster state funding as contributing to their decisions to increase tuition at Iowa's state universities for the current academic year and again next school year. Students at Iowa universities already rank high nationally for debt loads they carry with them after graduation.

During Monday's news conference, the governor noted Iowa went several years without raising tuition but he said college costs appear to be on the uptick again and the state Board of Regents appeared to be committed to holding future tuition hikes to the cost of living, which is around three percent.

'That's what we ought to do going forward,” he said.

During the 2015 session, lawmakers approved smaller-than-requested allocations, prompting the board to raise tuition 3 percent for resident undergraduates - or $200 a year - an increase that went into effect for Iowa State and University of Northern Iowa students in the spring of 2016 and took effect at the University of Iowa last fall. Because the regents after the 2016 session approved another round of tuition increases, resident undergraduate students on all three campuses saw an additional bump in August - UI's was bigger than the other two campuses because its 2015-approved tuition hike was delayed.

Earlier this month, the legislator approved and Branstad signed a de-appropriation package that did not impact K-12 schools but cut regent universities by $18 million - $8 million each at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University and $2 million at the University of Northern Iowa.

Despite the cuts, board President Bruce Rastetter said the regents won't raise tuition for the next school year beyond what already was approved in December.

That 2 percent tuition increase for resident undergraduate students in the 2017-18 academic year would bring rates to $7,270 at University of Iowa and $7,240 at Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa.

Non-residents, graduate and professional students, and those in more expensive programs also will see varying rate increases next year, depending on the program and its level.

In September, the board rolled out a two-year plan to raise resident undergraduate tuition two percent and request lawmakers increase state appropriations two percent in each of the next two years. Branstad earlier this month proposed fiscal 2018 and 2019 budgets that include two percent increases for the Board of Regents, but only after first pulling millions from the regents' base funding in the current budget year.

l Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@thegazette.com