Board of Regents approves UNI's legislative requests for 2024 session
UNI plays a vital role in providing access to a transformative and affordable educational experience for Iowa students. Ninety-one percent of UNI undergraduates come from Iowa and represent all 99 counties in the state. The large percentage of students who come from Iowa and stay in Iowa after graduating shows the importance of preserving the university’s charge to be accessible to Iowans.
The Board of Regents met in Iowa City Sept. 27 and 28 to approve the appropriation requests from the three regent universities. UNI requested an incremental increase of $5.8 million from the legislature for fiscal year 2025. The full amount requested will allow UNI to keep tuition flat with no increase. UNI is working towards the goal of achieving a tuition differential of $1,000 from both University of Iowa and Iowa State University, making the cost of UNI significantly more affordable to everyday Iowans. The current tuition differential between University of Iowa and Iowa State is $620 and $586, respectively. Differentiating tuition and mandatory fees will help UNI ensure costs align with the needs of our students and the state by providing a lower cost option for students seeking a four-year degree compared to the state’s public research universities. The funding will help UNI continue to widen its current cost advantage for students.
In addition to the general education fund increase, UNI’s other funding priorities for the 2024 legislative session include:
- $500,000 to maintain the successful UNI@IACC (Iowa Community College) partnership which provides scholarships for students completing their associate’s degree to finish their bachelor’s degree online through UNI
- $2.5 million to the Educators for Iowa program which aims to help recruit more students into the teaching profession by providing stipends to help cover costs during student teaching
- $3.85 million in infrastructure funding for the Applied Engineering Building modernization project to recover the cost of the emergency steam tunnel repairs which were redirected from this project
Having received final approval from the Board of Regents, these requests now go to the Governor and the State Legislature for consideration. The Governor announced on Sept. 27 that the State of Iowa will end the fiscal year with a $1.83 billion surplus in the state’s general fund. Lawmakers will convene for the 2024 legislative session on Jan. 8, 2024.