Iowa Lawmaker proposes rolling back tuition hikes

DES MOINES - A state lawmaker still paying off his college loans is proposing to undo tuition increases already approved for the next academic year at Iowa's three public universities.

Rep. Jake Highfill, R-Johnston, wants to freeze all tuition for the 2017-18 academic year to provide some relief for students - and their parents - at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.

'I think it time we slow down the growth” in the regents' budget, he said Monday. 'Every year we grow the budget. We're investing a lot in our kids. We're investing a lot in higher education. I think we should freeze tuition and let them save a little money.”

Highfill's bill is House File 45.

The Board of Regents has registered in opposition to the bill because regents believe they should have discretion and flexibility to work with the universities to set tuition, board spokesman Josh Lehman said.

After freezing resident undergraduate tuition for two-and-a-half years, regents since approved three increases as enrollment continues to grow to record levels.

The most recent was in December when regents approved a 2 percent per semester increase that bumped the base rate for in-state undergrads at the UI to $7,270 and to $7,240 at UNI and ISU in the 2017-18 academic year.

The package they approved also set varying increases for other students, including for out-of-state undergrads who pay four times more.

The bill, if ultimately adopted, would reset tuition to the current 2016-17 levels. The in-state undergrad rates now are $6,878 at the UI and $6,848 at ISU and UNI.

Last year, the regents unveiled a two-year budget blueprint to help students and parents plan better for the cost of education - one that also draws a clear correlation between state support and tuition rates.

The blueprint envisioned a 2 percent increase in state support for the universities in both the 2018 and 2019 budget years. And it laid out a proposed 2 percent bump in resident undergraduate tuition for each of the two years.

Highfill, who attended Kirkwood Community College and the UI, didn't know the state would have to make cuts in the current year budget when he filed his bill, but said the state is required by law to balance its budget even if that means making midyear cuts.

He didn't see any incongruity in the Legislature freezing tuition at the same time it is cutting the regents' budgets.

'We're really not cutting their budget,” Highfill said. 'We're not growing it as much as they would like, but it's still higher than the year before and higher than the year before that.”

Gov. Terry Branstad and lawmakers tentatively agreed to cut both the UI and ISU budgets by $8 million and UNI by $2 million this year below levels that were already appropriated.

General fund appropriations to the Board of Regents totaled $595 million in fiscal 2016. Branstad has proposed appropriating $587 million and $597 million in fiscal 2018 and 2019, respectively.

In proposing the freeze, Highfill said enrollment is growing at the universities and so out-of-state students, who pay higher tuition, account for more than half of the enrollment.

However, according to Lehman, enrollment is 60 percent in-state and 40 percent out-of-state.

More students than ever enrolled last fall at the three public universities, reaching a total 81,899 overall.

Ten years ago, total enrollment - including undergraduate, graduate and professional students was 69,178.

That means the three campuses saw an 18 percent spike in a decade.

l Comments: (319) 398-8375; james.lynch@thegazette.com

Vanessa Miller of The Gazette contributed to this report.