(Radio Iowa) – Board of Regents president Sherry Bates talked about the proposed tuition increase during their meeting today (Thursday). “Setting tuition rates is one of the most important things the board does. I have served on the board for a decade, and we have always been thoughtful and deliberative when considering tuition rates,” She says. “Our board feels strongly that we must continue to do this, weighing the cost to our students and their families, but while also being cognizant of the need to provide the universities the resources they need to continue to provide a first-class education.”

The comments by Bates come as a bill is on the way to the governor that would set an April 30th deadline for a tuition rate decision from the Regents. The group normally votes on tuition increases at its June meeting.

The bill also calls for a study of a fixed tuition rate, so the rate charged in a student’s first year at one of the state universities would be the same rate they’d pay in the next three years. Regent Bates announced today that she is appointing a two-person study group on tuition. “To research the merits of a tuition guarantee program, whereby resident students who enroll as freshmen at a Regent University would not see a tuition increase during their subsequent years, the results of this study should be reported to the board no later than the November 2025 meeting,” she says.

Board of Regents meeting in Ames. (photo from Regent video feed)

The proposal would raise resident tuition by 3% at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, and 2.7% at UNI. The Regents will vote on this year’s tuition proposal at their June meeting, along with an increase in mandatory fees by three percent at the UI, 2.7% at UNI, and 1.7% at ISU.

Bates also says the Board will continue to work to find efficiencies in the operation of the universities. “I am asking the universities to redouble their efficiency efforts so that we can find additional savings and reallocations, much like the governor’s DOGE task force is trying to accomplish,” Bates says.

The Regents raised the tuition each of the last two years after the Iowa Legislature approved less funding than they had requested. The Board also approved salary increases for the three university presidents and the executive director of the Board of Regents, each of the past two years, after approving the tuition increases.