Increase will harm more students out of education

By The Daily Nonpareil

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At a time when many, if not most, families in Iowa and nationwide are struggling with the impacts of the current recession, the Iowa Board of Regents has approved a series of tuition increases for the three state universities.

With the changes recently approved by the nine-member board, tuition will jump more than 40 percent for University of Iowa freshmen nursing students, while some engineering students' will see their tuition increase 20 percent.

The regents approved a 5 percent tuition increase at the state's three public universities for all in-state undergraduates, in addition to higher fees, to offset dwindling state aid. That means their tuition will climb by $308 per year at the University of Iowa and $306 at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa. The 5 percent hike will generate $17.4 million for the schools.

Presidents of the three universities said the increases, which take effect this fall, are a necessary step to maintain the quality of education at the three institutions after several years of state budget cuts.

The plan also calls for double-digit tuition increases for students in some programs that university officials said are more costly to offer.

Among the programs to see double-digit increases, instate freshmen students enrolling in the nursing program at the University of Iowa will be forced to deal with a 41.1 percent increase that will raise tuition to $8,622 per year. Sophomore engineering students at the school will see a 21.3 percent increase in tuition, to $7,436.

The increases mean that in-state undergraduate students at the University of Iowa will pay $6,436 in tuition, while Iowa State University and Northern Iowa students will pay $6,408 per year.

But increases in fees at each school will bump the costs even more. A 3.1 percent fee increase at the University of Iowa will increase students' bills to $7,765; a 20.4 percent increase at Iowa State raises the cost to $7,485; and the University of Northern Iowa's 4 percent increase raises costs to $7,350.

The plan also includes tuition increases for nonresident students. Tuition for undergraduate nonresident students at Iowa will increase 6 percent to more than $23,700; at Iowa State the tuition for nonresident undergraduate students will go up 3.5 percent to $18,200; and at Northern Iowa tuition for nonresident undergraduates will rise 5 percent to more than $15,000.

Several of the regents said they voted hesitantly to approve the increases but said it was necessary; but only two, Michael Gartner and Ruth Harkin, voted against the increase.

“It's really our responsibility to keep tuition down, and we are not serving the needs of students by raising tuition,” Harkin said.

We agree. For those who are unable to obtain assistance, the vote will price even more students out of an advanced education.

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