The Iowa Legislature proposes an $8.7 million budget cut, which jeopardizes the UI’s plan to improve academics.
Lucee Laursen
On Tuesday, the state Senate proposed another midyear budget cut of more than $8.7 million in funding to the UI. This comes after last year’s significant funding decrease, meaning funding for higher education has become the state’s scapegoat in balancing the budget. This is unacceptable.
The proposed budget cuts, coupled with the state ranking last in the nation for need-based financial-aid, exemplifies a clear lack of care for higher education. Iowa legislators fail to consider the lasting effects of continual budget cuts.
The state’s population growth has fallen far behind the growth of the United States as a whole. That increase was only 12.8 percent from 1950 to 2009; the U.S. population has increased by 50.4 percent in the same time.
In Iowa, there are more births than deaths, which means people are born here, but at some point decide to leave. Ultimately, this hurts the state. The fewer people who live here, the less money in taxes is collected, which means less funding to allocate to higher education. In order to fix this problem, the state needs to work on initiatives that lure people here.
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There are existing scholarships and financial aid given to some undergraduate students who pledge to stay in Iowa for a certain amount of time after they graduate. Despite these efforts, Iowa has still seen a net loss of people moving out of the state — 52,000 people from 2000 to 2009. In order to get Iowa’s population growth back on track, the Legislature must allocate funding to higher education and initiatives that encourage students to stay in state after graduation.
Iowa’s higher education is an investment, an investment that Iowa desperately needs. If cuts to higher education continue to occur, the state Board of Regents will have no choice but to raise tuition for both in-state and out-of-state students. If tuition is raised, this could deter potential students from choosing the UI. For every student who does not choose Iowa, the state misses out on potentially growing its population and state income.
Worse, if legislators continue to cut funding to the UI, instead of being able to implement strategic plans to boost academia, the university will have to raise tuition just to provide students with the same product. The UI cannot improve its academics if legislators cut significant amounts of funding. Regent Executive Director Mark Braun said, “The proposed cuts will impact the quality of our education.”
The state of Iowa needs the UI to propel its population, and therefore its economy, forward. Cutting funding to the state’s higher education will do the opposite.
It is clear that if Iowa continues to treat higher education as a scapegoat to balance the budget, academics will suffer. This in turn means that fewer people will be attracted to attending the UI, which means fewer people will move to Iowa for jobs. This cycle has been going on for far too long. If the proposed budget passes, Iowa legislators continue the cycle. In order to change, legislators must invest in its citizens, invest in its future, and invest in the UI.
