Mason: University of Iowa not asking for state funds to operate Des Moines campus

DES MOINES - The University of Iowa plans to operate the AIB campus in Des Moines as a self-sustaining operation that should have no impact on the state budget, President Sally Mason told legislators Monday.

'We're not coming to ask for help,” Mason said in a presentation to the House Appropriations Committee. 'It has to operate on its own, so I don't believe there will be a fiscal impact at all.”

Mason and AIB trustees President Chris Costa, who were guests of the committee, answered lawmakers' questions about the proposed transfer of AIB to UI for about 30 minutes.

Costa, who estimated the 20-acre campus with a dozen buildings is worth $30 million to $40 million, and Mason emphasized the transfer of property is a gift, not a sale, and no money will be exchanged.

It is a way to continue the AIB educational legacy in Des Moines, Costa said.

This is 'innovative, bold and historic,” he said about the decision to close AIB June 30, 2016. UI plans to reopen the campus July 1, as an 'extraordinary opportunity” for the regent university to expand its offerings in Des Moines.

'It's always been important to have a foot here in Des Moines,” she said after the meeting. 'We've had a small footprint before. This expands that footprint significantly.”

Over the years, Des Moines community members have asked UI to offer more classes, especially in medicine and business, in the Capitol City.

'The answer now is ‘yes,'” she said.

It's too early to know what courses and degree programs will be offered, but Mason, who is retiring July 31, said she expects it will be a 'broad spectrum.”

'I don't think it will look like the traditional college campus with 18- to 21-year-olds everywhere you look,” she said. 'I think it will be a very different looking student population. There will be traditional and non-traditional students just as there are at AIB now.”

UI sees the opportunity to double AIB's current 1,000-plus student enrollment, but Mason said the Des Moines campus probably could be self-sustaining at the current student population. Of course, she added, that depends on what's being offered.

AIB's gift of its campus to UI does not require legislative approval, but Mason said she 'would like the blessing of the will (Board of Regents).”