Nook Presents Budget Request to Legislative Committee

Because 88% of students enrolled at the University of Northern Iowa are from Iowa and 92% of the students from Iowa stay in Iowa after graduation, UNI educates Iowans for Iowa. This makes our partnership with the Iowa General Assembly so important; state appropriations account for 54% of UNI’s total operating budget.

Today, President Mark Nook presented UNI's fiscal year 2018 budget request to the Senators and Representatives on the Education Appropriations Subcommittee in Des Moines. Our request includes a 2% increase to our base operations budget plus an additional $2.5 million for strategic investments. These investments will change UNI's business model, increasing enrollment and proportion of non-resident students and maintaining or increasing outstanding work with retention, persistence, graduation and workforce development.

Additionally, UNI's goal is for every UNI student to engage in high-impact learning that transcends the classroom and explicitly highlights the synergy between the curriculum and co- and extra-curricular activities in order to prepare them for professional careers, civic engagement and lifelong learning. The funds requested will allow UNI to be more intentional and systematic in offering a wide array of integrative learning experiences, ranging from active learning in the classroom, through internships, student employment, undergraduate research, study abroad and community engagement.

For the 2017 Iowa Legislative Session, UNI is focusing on the following priorities:

• University Base Operations
• Economic Development & Entrepreneurship
• Center for Violence Prevention/Governor's Office for Bullying Prevention
• Math & Science/Governor's STEM Advisory Council
• Recycling and Reuse Center
• Real Estate Education
• Rod Library Modernization

More details on UNI's budget request can be found here.