A House subcommittee advanced a bill, House Study Bill 541, that would direct the board overseeing the state’s universities to look into a performance-based funding model.
The model would have to take into account things like graduation rates, the number of graduates who stayed in Iowa and post-graduation incomes.
Jillian Carlson, a lobbyist with the Board of Regents, said some of the criteria, like graduate income, would conflict with state needs.
“Our universities make a big effort to help the workforce needs in rural areas, where wages tend to be lower, and so that's one concern that we would have with that particular metric — but certainly happy to work with you guys,” Carlsons said.
It’s unclear how much of the university’s funding would be based on performance. A report on how the model could work would need to be submitted to lawmakers before the Board of Regents November meeting.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 31 states had performance-based funding models for higher education in 2020.
The latest from the Iowa Capitol adapted from on-air broadcast reports.