Branstad seeks another $20 million for Iowa regent universities

Gov. Terry Branstad urged state lawmakers Monday to boost funding at Iowa's three regent universities by at least $20 million beginning July 1 to help control student debt that is getting “unacceptably high” for Iowa graduates.

“We believe our budget will help prevent some of the large tuition spikes that have happened in recent years,” Branstad told a news conference attended by the student body presidents at state universities in Ames, Cedar Falls and Iowa City and the two top officers of the state Board of Regents. The governor said he believed the state could afford to pump an extra $20 million in regent university operations because the state budget is now “on a firm, stable foundation” after considerable belt-tightening last session.

Regent board president Craig Lang of Brooklyn said he believe that if the House and Senate settled on Branstad's recommended $20 million state funding increase for fiscal 2013 – a level about half of what the oversight board wanted – that student tuition would not have to be raised more than the 3.75 percent increase already approved for next fall. Board officials have indicated that a lower funding level could affect their public institutions and could mean a larger tuition hike than has already been set for 2012-13.

“If we get the governor's recommendation, we believe that we can hold tuition where it's at,” Lang said.

Elliott Higgins, an Ottumwa senior who is student body president at the University of Iowa, said students hope that's the case, an Iowa State University student body president Dakota Hoben, a Grandview senior majoring in ag business, said “we are excited about the positive number that we have seen from the governor's budget. I think in a lot of ways students do see this as the potential light to the end of the tunnel.”

The regents are requesting about $18 million in new funding next year for educational initiatives and to cover inflation; that's a 4 percent increase to this year's $449 million. They're also asking for $4 million annually for three years to help the University of Northern Iowa through budget challenges, since that school relies more on in-state tuition than the others do.

Democrats who control the Senate have offered to spend $34 million more than current levels at the state's three public universities, while Republicans who lead the House have proposed to reduce fiscal 2012 regent funding by $31 million and are $54 million below the governor's budget proposal.

Branstad said the state needs to share part of the investment burden for providing quality higher education and he wanted to make sure students play a role in deciding what that commitment should be.

“I believe it's important for the students to have a voice in this budget process because ultimately they're the ones who are going to have to live with the budget that's approved,” Branstad said. “I'm very hopeful that in the end of the day the Legislature will see the wisdom of the recommendations that we've made.”

The governor also supported his proposed fiscal 2013 funding increases of $4 million for community colleges and $2 million for private college tuition grants which have come under fire from Democrats and Republicans alike.

Senate President Jack Kibbie, D-Emmetsburg, recently criticized the Branstad administration and the state Department of Education specifically for failing to adequately represent the interests of community colleges in basic funding and job retraining areas, saying “it's minimal, it's anemic, there's nothing coming from that institution of state government to help community college funding.”

Branstad said “there's always those who want to spend more or less” but he defended his higher education recommendations as proposals that “make sense” given the state's current financial position. “The budgeting process is a difficult process and we only have a certain amount of resources available,” he noted.