Jeff Charis-Carlson

jcharisc@press-citizen.com

Nearly 2,500 resident students returning to the University of Iowa soon will be receiving a letter informing them that scholarships they previously were expecting will not be available for the 2017-18 academic year.

“It is with great disappointment that I share this news,” the letter from UI President Bruce Harreld states. “Please know that the elimination of this program in no way diminishes your admirable academic accomplishments. Unfortunately, because of a shortfall in state revenues, the Iowa Legislature decreased funding to the University of Iowa by eight million dollars. This devastating cut has forced us to consider every expenditure and its contribution to our core educational mission of education, research and discovery.”

UI officials said Wednesday the cuts will impact 2,440 resident undergraduate students. The list of scholarships affected includes:

Iowa Heritage: A legacy program for incoming freshmen.

Iowa Heritage Transfer: A legacy program for incoming transfer students.

Iowa Heritage Presidents: An initial group of awards for presidential scholars.

Iowa CC 2+2: Funds for students enrolled in one of UI’s 2+2 Community College programs.

CC Academic Scholarship: Awards for high achieving transfer students from Community Colleges

UI officials estimate cutting the scholarships will save the university $4,343,699 annually.

The announcement comes after the university already has reduced its Summer Hawk Tuition program, tightened residency requirements for out-of-state students seeking to pay in-state tuition, and increased the minimum number of credit hours required for students to live in the dorms.

Other coverage

Harreld told state lawmakers Wednesday at the Statehouse that those savings are necessary because of $8 million cuts in state funding that the university is required to implement over the next four months. Those cuts this year will continue to reduce the university's base funding level in future fiscal years.

Harreld, who was named UI president in September 2015, told lawmakers that UI's in-state tuition has lagged to the point that it is at the bottom of its peer institutions. Raising UI's base tuition and fees to the average of its peers, he said, would bring in nearly $91 million.

If UI were allowed to increase its tuition to such a level over the next five years, Harreld said, then UI would commit to use any additional general funding provided the university — beyond the current $224 million for 2016-17 — as aid for resident students.

With UI's base tuition and fees currently at $8,974 is and the average of UI's peers at $11,882, that would amount to a 32.4 percent increase over those five years — not counting any additional increases for inflation. Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa likewise have resident tuition rates at or near the bottom of their peer groups.

The Iowa Board of Regents has the authority to set tuition levels. Lawmakers and the governor, however, approve appropriation levels, which are set, in part, in reaction to the tuition levels set.

Many of the scholarships affected either were implemented or expanded during the final two years of Harreld's predecessor, UI President Sally Mason. In 2014, UI began an aggressive recruitment campaign to attract more Iowa high school graduates and increase its percentage of resident students.

The regents at that time had passed a new funding formula that more directly tied the amount of state funding the each public university received to that institutions' in-state enrollment. The Iowa Legislature, however, did not use the new formula during the 2015 or 2016 legislative sessions.

Community and private college leaders within the state complained at the time that the expanded scholarships attracted many students to UI who otherwise would have enrolled in a two-year or private institutions within the state.

Had those students known the UI scholarships would not last throughout their studies, they may have made a different choice on where to go to college.

Harreld told the Press-Citizen earlier this month that the university always include language in its financial aid packages stating that the amounts could change depending on the university's financial health.

Reach Jeff Charis-Carlson at jcharisc@press-citizen.com or 319-887-5435. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffCharis.