University of Iowa changes enrollment, aid practices in budget saving measures

IOWA CITY - Cost-cutting measures on the University of Iowa campus could impact student pocketbooks through financial aid changes, curtailed summer school assistance and extra hurdles for out-of-state students who want to obtain residency for tuition-slashing purposes.

The university is looking at an array of efficiencies, cuts, and program changes in the wake of an $8 million cut to its current-year budget. UI President Bruce Harreld recently told The Gazette his staff is close to finalizing the cuts, which are part of an $18 million take-back in state appropriations from the Board of Regents included in a $117.8 million statewide de-appropriation following a budget shortfall.

Harreld has said that, going forward, need-based student financial aid requests will take priority - while student requests outside that realm could be rejected for the next school year.

The university's increasingly popular Summer Hawk Tuition Grant program - which awards summer scholarships to first-year, first-time Iowa residents and partial scholarships to non-residents - also is being downgraded for the upcoming session. Instead of letting students apply for a grant to offset tuition costs for up to 12 summer semester hours over four years, the grant now is being offered for a maximum of 6 summer semester hours.

New this year, students also will be required to declare their intention to use the summer tuition grant no later than March 1. Students who change their mind about using the grant in a particular summer must do so before May 1 or lose their ability to use the grant in the future.

'The Summer Hawk Tuition Grant is a university scholarship program that depends on state funding,” according to Associate Provost Lon Moeller. 'Due to changes in funding this year, it was not possible to continue funding the Summer Hawk Tuition Grant at its previous level.”

The university could have canceled the program - which was created to help students stay on track to graduate in four years.

'We chose to revise the Summer Hawk Tuition Grant rather than to end the program,” he said.

And, according to Moeller, the revision makes sense. In reviewing use of the program, which started in 2013, UI officials found last year's crop of program participants enrolled in an average of 6.6 semester hours.

'Students who enrolled in more semester hours were more likely to earn lower grades or drop one or more of their summer courses,” he said.

Those really wanting to take more can petition for a grant covering nine summer semester hours, according to Moeller.

The university hasn't tallied the number of Summer Hawk Tuition Grant applicants for the upcoming summer, but 1,905 students took advantage last year. That was up from 1,142 the previous summer, which more than tripled the 313 in the program's inaugural year.

Moeller said it's too soon to guess how much the program changes might save the university. But considering the budget cuts, Moeller said, 'A more targeted investment in the Summer Hawk Tuition Grant will help ensure the university can maintain a full complement of year-round course offerings.”

Residency ‘will become very difficult'

From the revenue side, the university is looking to maximize potential tuition receipts by tightening rules for out-of-state students seeking resident status so they can pay the lower in-state rate.

'We have quite a few students who apply for residency each year, and we want to make sure that only bona fide residents become residents,” UI Assistant Provost and Registrar Larry Lockwood said.

Under Iowa law, students who move here and enroll full-time in a program of study are presumed to be in Iowa for educational purposes and thus categorized as non-residents for tuition purposes.

Students seeking residency can apply by submitting written details and supporting documents - like a marriage license, for example, or current Iowa resident income tax returns.

In appealing a residency denial, students must show they're only in school part-time and also are working. Therein lies the change UI officials are rolling out. Instead of requiring students seeking residency to work 20 hours a week, the university now requires they work at least 30 hours a week - or 1,560 a year for more than 12 consecutive months.

The new requirement affects anyone who enrolls after May 1. UI couldn't immediately give precise numbers of students who apply for residency and are accepted or denied, but Lockwood said more than 500 do so annually on average.

Last fall, he said, 319 people came from out of state and enrolled as part-time freshmen - presumably to gain residency. That represented 'quite a jump” from 60 to 70 the prior year, he said.

For fall 2017, UI has received about 20,500 domestic applications, compared with 19,763 for fall 2016. Of the 2017 pool of applicants, 5,321 are residents and 15,178 are non-residents. The university doesn't know who will enroll as full-time or part-time until students come to campus in the fall.

The university's full-time non-resident tuition rate is $27,366 in the current academic year, compared to $7,128 for non-residents. Students who enroll in fewer than four semester hours pay the residential rate, and UI tuition for four hours is $1,212, according to Board of Regents documents.

'It has cost us quite a bit - $6 to $8 million in reduced tuition income from those students who only went part time,” Lockwood said. 'So what will this save us? Probably $6 to $8 million.”

Other institutions, like University of Illinois, long have had strict policies on the topic.

'If people plan on coming here to gain residency, it will become very difficult for them to do that in the future,” Lockwood said.

The jump in out-of-state part-time freshmen last fall did more than harm the institution's anticipated revenue, which is why changes also are on tap in the residence halls.

'They were working and just taking one course, or maybe two courses, but they had a lot of free time on their hands and that caused a little disruption in the dorms,” Lockwood said.

New dorm mandates

Until now, a UI student enrolled in any number of credit hours - even one - could live in a residence hall. Next fall, students must be taking at least seven - which is more than part-time - to live on campus.

The main reason for the change is to prioritize the university's limited campus housing options, said Von Stange, assistant vice president for student life and senior director of UI Housing and Dining. The university's total residence hall capacity in the current year is 6,864, which is about 21 percent of the 33,334 total enrollment.

'We felt that it was Important to prioritize that space for students who are spending the bulk of their time studying and attending classes,” Stange said. 'Those students who are part-time students, their focus is not as much academics as it might be working.”

UI Housing and Dining doesn't have records on what portion of its occupants are part-time versus full-time, Stange said. And, he said, the university doesn't keep a tally of part-time residents who have 'conduct issues.”

But, he said, 'The old adage of idle hands might be a good analysis of part-time versus full-time students.”

'We want to make sure that the experience for our students living in the residence halls is a positive one,” Stange said. 'And when they're all focused on their academics, that tends to help us create an environment that is conducive to student success.”

The university is disseminating the new residence hall requirements through its admissions office. Housing applications, to date, are similar to last year, and Stange said it's unclear whether the policy shift will prompt some students to change their housing plans.

'If their goal is to gain residency, they can come to the University of Iowa,” he said. 'But they can live off campus to do that.”