Regents send $18 million funding boost request to lawmakers
The state Board of Regents passed its state appropriations requests unanimously at a virtual meeting Wednesday.
Iowa Board of Regents President Michael Richards sits alongside President Pro Tem Patty Cownie during a meeting at the Iowa State Alumni Center in Ames, Iowa, on Thursday, June 6, 2019. The Regents voted in favor of a four percent tuition increase starting in the fall semester of 2019.
September 23, 2020
The state Board of Regents unanimously passed its fiscal year 2022 state appropriations request totaling $642.87 million in operating and other appropriations.
According to the board’s request, the two key resource components of the funding request are state appropriations and tuition revenue. The request follows the regents passing of a tuition freeze for the 2020-21 academic year in June. Regent documents stated the board may reevaluate tuition and fees for the spring 2021 semester.
The decision to freeze tuition has resulted in a budgeted drop at each of the regent’s universities for fiscal 2021. Future tuition rates have yet to be approved by the board.
The appropriations request was divided into six funding sections including higher education, special purpose units, and economic development. The University of Iowa’s higher education appropriations requests for fiscal 2022 total $222.6 million according to the report, more than Iowa State University’s $179.2 million and the University of Northern Iowa’s $102.3 million.
As The Daily Iowan previously reported, the regents are asking state lawmakers to restore the $8 million they cut from the board’s budget in June 2020 and for a boost in funding by another $18 million for fiscal year 2022. If the $18 million increase is approved, it will be split $7 million for the UI, $7 million for ISU, and $4 million for UNI.
The meeting request will go to the Iowa state Legislature that is set to convene in January.
