AMES, Iowa — The Iowa House recently unveiled their new budgeting proposal for the Iowa Board of Regents, and for the third year in a row, there's no increase in funding.
In 2022, Iowa's public universities—including the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa—received $486 million. The new proposal wouldn't change that.
Blake Kroth, a first-year student at Iowa State, said that thanks to a summer job and other money he'd saved up, he hasn't had to take out any loans. If tuition had to go up due to the lack of funding, that could change.
"With the tuition increase, it'd make it a little bit more difficult for me to stay away from private loans, which is pretty unfortunate, because the rates are pretty high right now," Kroth said.
The proposed state budget does include something to help with that—an additional $12 million for scholarships aimed at students pursuing high-demand jobs. For students like Kroth, that could make a real difference.
"That's something that I've been working on, just filling out some scholarships, because then you don't have to work as much, you have a little bit more free time. And on top of that, then you won't have to worry about the loans or tuition and stuff like that," he said.
Another student who spoke with Local 5 said that financial aid from Iowa State has been a huge help in keeping her in class.
"I think Iowa State's pretty good. I have some friends that went to different schools where it's a lot more of an issue, but I will say it's pretty giving," said Kelsey Hoey, a first-year student.
In a statement to Local 5, Josh Lehman, spokesperson for the Board of Regents, said "The Board is appreciative of the legislative proposal to provide additional financial aid to Regent students, and we look forward to continuing to work with the General Assembly to support Iowa’s public universities."(4) In Ames, Carson J-S Reichardt, Local 5 News, We Are Iowa.
Negotiations surrounding the Regents budget are still ongoing, and the Iowa Senate hasn't released their plan yet, which may look a bit different from the House's proposal.