On Monday, the state Board of Regents unanimously approved appropriation requests for fiscal 2019 totaling $622.35 million.       

Actions by designated regent staff to seek collaboration and partnerships among regent institutions and other sectors of state government were also authorized.

“The regent legislative efforts are an integral part in successfully receiving requested funding,” regent documents said. 

Some $495.35 million of the appropriations request was for higher education purposes for the three regent universities: University of Northern Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Iowa.

The UI requested $216.76 million for general-education purposes, $12.50 million for special-purpose units, and $2.21 million for economic development appropriations, the same amount requested for fiscal 2018.

The total higher education funds requested would go toward recurring appropriations totaling $483.35 million and an incremental funding of $12 million for financial aid for resident undergraduate students; $5 million of that funding would go to the UI.

RELATED: Regents to request $12 million to fund financial aid for Iowa resident undergrads 

According to regent documents, Iowa has no financial-aid funding for the sole purpose of being given to students attending Iowa’s public universities.      

Despite growing enrollment at the three universities, state appropriations for higher education have been significantly reduced since fiscal 2009.

State appropriations for higher education have also continued to be cut throughout the year. In February, the Legislature approved midyear finding reductions for fiscal 2017 totaling $20.75 million. This was a result of tax revenues for the state being lower than had been projected, according to regent documents.

In April, the Legislature moved to reduce higher-education funding for fiscal 2018 by $9.58 million. The funding cuts come on top of appropriations that are $30.33 million less than the original appropriations for fiscal 2017.

— Emily Wangen