Iowa Western faced what board member Brent Siegrist described as the “perfect bad storm” when putting together its budget for next year. Factors contributing to the increase, according to Kinney, include, the 1.25-percent increase in State Aid from the Legislature, which was less than what Gov. Branstad recommended, and uncertainty over the number of students enrolling this fall.

The preliminary budget also estimated a 3 percent decline in enrollment and corresponding reduction in tuition collected. But Kinney said a more “reasonable and sensible” figure would be a 5 percent decline, and college officials won’t know the real situation for a few months. In addition, health insurance costs were anticipated to be “much lower” than the actual 10.3 percent increase faced by the college. Kinney said additional reductions – mostly by trimming positions – are still underway to reach the goal of only raising tuition by $11 a credit hour.

Tuition is currently set at $138 for Iowa residents and $143 for nonresidents. The hike represents about an 8 percent increase in non-fee costs to attend classes at Iowa Western.