By Scott Peters

The Iowa Board of Regents has proposed overhauling the system by which it allocates state appropriations among Iowa's three public universities.

Under the new performance-based funding model, a significant portion of state resources would be distributed based on resident enrollment, meaning Iowa tax dollars follow Iowa students.

If the Legislature approves the full budget request, it would result in increases next year to the base budgets of Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa without reducing the base budget of the University of Iowa. It would also remedy a decades-long inequity that has handicapped the University of Northern Iowa's ability to fulfill its mission as the state's only comprehensive university focused on undergraduate education.

As major research universities, UI and ISU make invaluable contributions to Iowa through their undergraduate education, their excellent graduate and professional programs, and their innovative and creative scholarship.

The University of Northern Iowa makes an equally significant, although different, contribution to the state. As an institution, UNI has long prepared Iowa's undergraduates for careers in Iowa. Founded as the state's teachers college, UNI's graduates now comprise about one-third of the state's K-12 teachers and 37 percent of its principals and superintendents.

Our mission today extends beyond preparing teachers to providing students with a broad and rigorous liberal arts education. But our focus remains on Iowa. While many of our faculty members are recognized as experts in their field and produce important, cutting-edge works of scholarship, the main part of our job, day in and day out, is educating Iowa's undergraduate students.

Roughly 90 percent of our students are Iowans and more than 80 percent of graduates either get their first job in Iowa or pursue post-graduate education within the state. In short, UNI educates Iowa students who become Iowa professionals and Iowa taxpayers.

Unfortunately, our focus on Iowa students has left us more vulnerable to a steep decline over the past 15 years in state support for higher education. This decline has exacerbated traditional inequities in state funding among the three universities, putting particular pressure on UNI.

Over most of the past 30 years, UNI has received only about 16 to 18 cents of every dollar the state spent on higher education despite the fact that during that time we've usually educated around 22 percent of the state's undergraduate students. Our focus on Iowa's undergraduates denies UNI the financial flexibility of research universities, whose revenue base includes the higher tuition paid by out-of-state students, as well as external funding sources such as research grants and contributions from the schools' charitable foundations.

As a result, about 51 percent of UNI's general education fund comes from state appropriations, whereas UI and ISU only depend on the state for about 35 percent of their general funds. When cuts happen, they affect a much larger share of our budget.

The lack of adequate funding for UNI undermines the state's efforts to expand Iowa's workforce and increase family income levels. Our mission involves transforming the lives and career opportunities of Iowa's undergraduates, many of who would not have considered college as an option. More than 90 percent of UNI's in-state undergraduates who receive financial aid demonstrate financial need, and 76 cents of every dollar we spend on scholarships goes to those needy Iowans.

Universities are rightly recognized as economic engines for the state due to their innovative research. But often overlooked is the wealth-generating effect of a college education on students of limited means.

By admitting those students and devoting our resources and expertise to help them succeed in college, UNI not only makes real differences in the lives of individuals but also has a significant impact on Iowa's economic development by helping transform the state's workforce into a highly skilled, highly educated one.

Iowa is fortunate to have three excellent universities, but an inequitable funding formula coupled with state cuts to higher education have short-changed one of them.

The performance-based funding proposal is controversial, and some state legislators have already expressed opposition. As this debate unfolds, one fact must be kept in mind: Status quo funding levels for UNI harm a large share of the state's undergraduates, including many who are most in need of the state's support and who have a higher likelihood of staying and working in the state.

Whether the legislature adopts the Board of Regents' proposal or whether it goes in a different direction, it is imperative that it address UNI's historical funding deficit so that all three universities finally receive levels of funding that allow them to excel.

THE AUTHOR:

SCOTT PETERS is an associate professor of political science at the University of Northern Iowa. He is now serving as chairman of the UNI faculty. Contact: scott.peters@uni.edu.