Governor Branstad says he has not ruled out funding a tuition freeze for students at Iowa’s Regents universities for next year.
It would be the third year in a row that tuition would remain unchanged. In the past, Regents were able to freeze tuition because of increase in state funds made up the difference. Branstad says it’s too soon to say whether the state budget can handle that for another year.
“I’m very hopeful that we can do that,” Branstad says. “We will wait until we have the December revenue estimate to finalize our budget, but I'm encouraged with what the Regents are doing.”
The Board of Regents office is recommending a less than 2 percent increase in tuition, but Regents themselves say they favor another freeze. Branstad says double digit tuition increases in the last decade posed a great burden for Iowa students and their families.
This year’s tuition freeze was made possible when state lawmakers approved a four percent increase in state funds for the universities.
