Students at Iowa’s public institutions — including the University of Iowa — received less federal financial aid for the fifth consecutive year, the state Board of Regents announced in its annual financial aid report. 

The total awarded aid dropped from $503.4 million in 2020-21 to $484.3 million in 2021-22. According to the report, federal aid has been steadily dropping since 2010-11. 

Total financial aid increases from institutional contributions

The total amount of financial aid awarded by institutions and the government increased slightly at all Iowa public universities, going from $1.05 billion to $1.06 billion in 2021-22. The report attributes the small spike from institutions compensating for the drop in federal aid. 

Institutional funding also rose from $412.7 million in 2020-21 to $439.4 million in 2021-22, the report stated. Of that amount, the University of Iowa received $118 million, an increase of $7 million from last year.

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The report also noted that $356 million in federal loans were taken out by students. Institutional grants and scholarships for undergraduate students rose by 4 percent. 

Additional scholarship funding of $60.1 million from other sources and $8.9 million from the state were also available during 2021-22.

Of the $296 million in institutional scholarships, $142 million was reserved for need-based grants for undergraduates. The UI received $52.2 million in need-based scholarships in 2021-22.

According to the report, the last of the money from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund was distributed in spring 2022. The regents distributed $22.4 million of the federal COVID-19 relief dollars to the UI.

The HEERF money came from the  Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which was a $2.2 trillion economic relief package released in 2020 in response to economic downturns resulting from the pandemic. 

The report will be presented on Feb. 22 at the regents meeting.