Iowa universities pare down state-funding ask after seeing no increase last session

IOWA CITY — Far from the $30.3 million, 5-percent increase it asked of lawmakers last year, Iowa’s Board of Regents heading into the upcoming session is requesting a modest $8 million bump — amounting to a 1.3-percent increase.

That pared-down ask comes after lawmakers rejected the board’s hefty request for the current budget year and instead offered a $4 million increase, largely supporting legislative priorities and ignoring university appeals.

For example, lawmakers appropriated $1 million for a new UI Center for Intellectual Freedom — stemming from House File 437 — and another $1 million for the University of Northern Iowa’s new Center for Civic Education.

Instead of giving UI the $10 million it wanted to address rural health care needs, lawmakers offered $1 million in support of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ request for an “Iowa Cancer Assessment and Intervention Plan.”

Although Iowa State University got $1 million more for its agriculture experiment station, that was shy of the $3.8 million increase it requested.

As far as general education funding — which supports the campuses’ primary educational functions and is comprised of mostly state appropriations and tuition revenue — lawmakers last session kept those appropriations flat for the current year at $503.8 million, despite the governor recommending a 2-percent increase.

Given that, the universities in their new appropriations request didn’t ask for any increase in general ed funding — the first time that’s happened in at least 25 years, according to board documents.

‘Special purposes’

The board’s funding-increase requests this year — which, if approved, would bring the state’s total support to nearly $631 million — focus on “special purposes” at each university, like UNI’s neighborly state tuition offer.

UNI is asking lawmakers to appropriate $1 million for the 2027 budget year in support of UNI’s instate tuition rate offer to new undergraduate students from the contiguous states of Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Missouri.

Lawmakers last session appropriated $1.5 million toward that program, but Gov. Reynolds vetoed it over concerns it would become ongoing — and not one-time — funding.

In UNI’s appropriation request for 2027, officials didn’t characterize the funds as one-time or ongoing but rather as supporting the neighbor-state rate initiative and Iowa’s overall economy.

“Over 40 percent of UNI graduates from the states contiguous to Iowa stay in the state after graduation, joining Iowa’s workforce and adding value to Iowa’s economic development,” according to the appropriations request. “Not only will this funding open access to programs for students from the states contiguous to Iowa, but it will also increase enrollment of undergraduates ready to join the Iowa workforce upon graduation.”

UNI also requested an extra $600,000 from the state to grow and expand its bachelor of science in nursing program — launched last fall “to increase the nursing workforce in Iowa.”

Its first cohort enrolled 24 students, and UNI aims to admit 96 to 144 news students every academic year beginning next fall, according to board documents, which highlight the 3,500 job postings for registered nurses on iowaworks.gov as of August 2025.

In that vein, the University of Iowa is requesting what it envisions as a recurring $3.6 million from the state in support of its “increasing physicians in rural Iowa” initiative.

“By 2036, the U.S. will be short by 86,000 physicians, setting up an intense nationwide competition for these highly trained clinicians,” according to UI’s appropriations request. “With 65 counties designated as ‘health professional shortage areas,’ and ranking in the bottom six nationally of physicians per resident, something must change — and change quickly.”

With the annual $3.6 million, the university will recruit rural students through medical school pathways; launch a dedicated rural-medicine track, with specialized curriculum and training; build a statewide preceptor network to expand clinical training opportunities in rural Iowa; providing rural-medicine scholarships; and grow the number of students in the rural medicine track from five to 20 or 40 over the next four years.

Iowa State’s requested $3 million increase would direct $1.8 million to its agricultural experiment station and $1.2 million to its cooperative extension services for things like nutrient and pest management, artificial intelligence workforce development, and new livestock, corn and soybean, and grain handling programming.

“Through this investment, ISU’s ag tech experts will develop innovations to enable farmers with cutting-edge solutions and prepare the rural workforce to support this digital transformation,” according to the ISU request.

‘Supporting the state’

The board’s appropriations request — amounting to a 1.5-percent increase for each campus — took great lengths to emphasize the benefits Iowa’s public universities provide to the state, its economy, and its residents’ quality of life.

“Iowa’s Regent universities are the state’s top three producers of bachelor’s degrees with approximately 13,000 awarded each year,” according to board documents. “In addition, roughly 4,400 graduate and professional degrees are awarded annually by Iowa’s regent universities. Many of these students join Iowa’s workforce upon graduation, further serving Iowans and supporting the state’s economy.”

The board reported nearly 70,500 students from all 50 states, several U.S. territories, and 135 countries enrolled in the campuses last fall — with current fall numbers scheduled to be released in days.

“Over 40 percent of students attending Iowa’s regent universities originated from outside the state,” according to the board. “Many of these students will become residents of Iowa because of their experiences at Iowa’s regent universities.”

Highlighting the campuses’ research endeavors, the board noted its enterprise includes University of Iowa Health Care — one of the country’s largest academic medical centers — and, at Iowa State, the veterinary diagnostic laboratory, providing important services to Iowans and education and training opportunities for students.

“Iowa’s Regent universities provide clear pathways for students to enter and complete their educational and career goals,” according to the board. “Students attending a four-year public university in Iowa continue to outperform, on average, students attending four-year public universities in most states.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com