Articles Tagged: Iowa College Aid

Also, Gov. Kim Reynolds announces awards to Iowans whose homes were damaged by flooding and tornadoes

Iowa College Aid commissioners are asking to take on more of a role in the search for a new executive director after the former director resigned in August.

Under two years from the 2025 deadline Iowa set for itself seven years ago to get at least 70 percent of its workforce some form of education or training after high school, a new Gallup poll out Tuesday reveals confidence in higher education has plummeted — especially among Republicans.

A change in the federal student aid formula could mean lower levels of financial aid for children whose parents run family farms or small businesses. Currently, a family with an adjusted gross income of $60,000 and a farm worth $1 million would be expected to contribute $7,626 annually for college. Under the new formula, that same family would be expected to contribute $41,056.

During the pandemic, nearly half of Iowa high school seniors applied for college financial aid — on par with the previous cycle but below pre-pandemic levels and lower than the national rate, according to a new state FAFSA report.

“When people think $20,000 isn’t a lot, out of my $85,000, that’s a lot for me.”

When COVID-19-19 shuttered schools last spring, a key factor in getting high school seniors to college — FAFSAs — flatlined. Where “Free Application for Federal Student Aid” filings had been rising in Iowa, the pandemic’s onset halted that progress and in the year since reversed some of the gains.