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Governor Branstad signed a bill this morning which will result in an $8 million cut to Iowa State University for the current fiscal year -- $18 million shared among the three regent institutions.
Following notice that the Iowa House and Senate reached a deal last week, President Leath addressed the university with plans to manage the budget reduction.
In an effort to keep education at Iowa State accessible and affordable for students, the following strategies will be
implemented:
- postpone nonessential deferred maintenance projects
- delay searches, and in some cases, eliminate vacant positions
- reduce spending on professional development, equipment purchases, travel, and printing
- reduce some campus-wide services on a temporary basis
Unfortunately, this is not a one-time cut as this will reduce the university's base appropriation moving forward. The loss of state dollars puts the quality of the student experience at risk.
With more than 20,000 in-state students from all 99 counties, Iowa State educates more Iowans than any other institution.
As enrollment at Iowa State has increased to record levels, state appropriations per resident student have rapidly declined. In 2008 when record growth began, the university received $12,700 per resident student from the state. At that time, 50% of revenue came from the state and the other half from tuition and fees. Today, the university receives $9,400 per resident student from the state which has dramatically shifted the budget to less than 30% of revenue coming from the state and nearly 70% from tuition and fees.
In addition to jeopardizing affordability for students, lags in state funding and record enrollment growth have prevented Iowa State from improving the student to faculty ratio which remains at 19:1.
As the state's only land-grand institution, it's the university's responsibility to provide students with a world class learning experience. Iowa State is proud to serve the needs of students and provide a great place to pursue a degree, and will
continue to call on the Governor and the Iowa Legislature to make higher education a priority so that students do not bear the brunt of the decrease in state support.
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