Gov. Branstad will work with regents on funding request

IOWA CITY - Gov. Terry Branstad on Thursday promised to work with the Board of Regents on its request for $12.9 million to keep the University of Iowa whole as it rolls out new performance - and enrollment-based funding metrics in the 2016 budget year.

When asked if Branstad plans to include the supplemental funding request in his 2016 budget, Branstad said he first must win the November election and then wait for December revenue estimates.

'But look at my track record,” Branstad told reporters during a visit to the UI campus.

For the past two years, Branstad said, the Board of Regents has requested state funding to enable tuition freezes for undergraduate Iowa-resident students at its public universities.

'And I put it in my budget, and we got it through the Legislature,” Branstad said. 'My intent is to continue working with the regents.”

The Board of Regents on Wednesday agreed to ask the state for a total of $661.94 million in appropriations for the 2016 budget year, including $12.9 million in supplemental funds help roll out its new performance-based funding model. Under the new way of funding the state's three public universities, 60 percent of state allocations will be tied to in-state enrollment, 5 percent will be linked with graduate and professional student enrollment, and the remaining 35 percent will be tied to performance metrics, like access, progress and attainment, and sponsored research.

If the formula were to be implemented in one year, based on current enrollment figures, UI would lose about $46.5 million and Iowa State University would become the top funded university in the state. But, in hopes of minimizing the impact, the board is rolling out the new metrics over three years beginning in 2016, with an annual 2 percent cap on the amount of money that can move from one university to another.

The cap means no more than $12.9 million could be allocated away from UI for those first three years, and the Board of Regents on Wednesday said they hope the state will supplement that entire amount in 2016 to prevent any hit to UI.

When asked about concerns for UI should lawmakers deny the supplemental funding request, Branstad pointed to the university's ramped up efforts to recruit more in-state students and to an efficiency review underway that is expected to save money at all three regent institutions.

Branstad, during his stop on the UI campus Thursday, stressed that education is among his top priorities. He said the consecutive tuition freezes enabled by the Legislatures for the past two years are something critics didn't think he could get done.

But, he said, tuition can't remain frozen forever. Branstad said he believes the Board of Regents is considering a modest tuition increase of 1.7 percent for the next academic year.

And if elected, Branstad said, he'll push for more options to keep down student costs and reduce debt. This week he challenged the Board of Regents to develop within a year a series of bachelor's degrees that Iowa resident students can obtain for no more than $10,000 in tuition.

Specifically, the governor is suggesting each public university submit feasibility studies to the Board of Regents for offering $10,000 degrees in at least four popular programs and make additional offerings in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math.

Branstad told UI students, faculty, staff, and community members Thursday that institutions could use online courses and college credits earned in high school to make the $10,000 degrees possible.

He also proposed a student debt reduction tax credit program that would allow students to reduce debt by participating in volunteer activities within their communities. The goal would be to link charitable giving with both non-profit organizations and student volunteers.

Sen. Jack Hatch, who is running against Branstad for governor this fall, criticized Branstad's proposals this week as being 'unrealistic and unworkable,” and he pointed toward his own plan as a better option.

'Branstad has been unable to control costs at the vast majority of Iowa colleges and universities over the past four years,” Hatch said in a statement, calling the proposal 'too little, too late.”

He said the Branstad plan fails to cover external costs related to earning a degree and relies on adjunct faculty and online courses 'to an extent that will degrade the value of degrees at our universities and turn Iowa's public institutions of higher education into the public equivalent of the University of Phoenix.”

Hatch said his 'Open Doors for Iowa Students” proposal is more realistic and achievable in that it will cut costs by up to 25 percent for all Iowa students, including those who attend private and community colleges.

'My plan includes accelerated learning for students at all institutions,” he said in a statement. 'It relies on dual enrollment in high school and allows students to choose any course offered by any college to fulfill necessary requirements.”

The Hatch plan also proposes combining online learning with classroom studies and allowing students who enter a structured volunteer service commitment upon graduation to receive a state tax credit.

'I won't leave any student behind,” Hatch said.