(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed legislation setting state appropriations for primary and secondary education for the next fiscal year, but item-vetoed a line providing funds to the University of Northern Iowa for out-of-state tuition changes with a vow to further work with the university next year.

Reynolds signed Senate File 647 alongside other policy and appropriations bills June 11, according to a governor’s office news release. Reynolds said in a veto letter she line-item vetoed a $1.5 million appropriation to UNI to provide in-state tuition for students coming from states bordering Iowa not because she doesn’t support the program, but because of how it was being implemented.

UNI originally requested $3 million for the tuition change, Reynolds said in the letter, a one-time allocation to launch the program before it became self-sustaining, but the legislation would provide $1.5 million in the upcoming fiscal year “with an expectation of ongoing funding.”

Questions also remained about how the program could impact current students who fall under this category, Reynolds said in the letter. UNI President Mark Nook told lawmakers this spring lowering tuition for students from contiguous states would help bring more of them to Iowa, where they would likely stay after graduation.

“I look forward to working with UNI next year to further develop the details of the program and see it launched,” Reynolds said in the letter.