Tuition decision anticipated at regents meeting today

The Iowa Board of Regents is expected to set fall tuition rates today (June 12) on the final day of a three-day meeting at the University of Iowa. Proposed increases are in the 3%-4.5% range. The regents also will discuss fiscal year 2026 salary policies for the various employee groups at the regent universities and announce compensation packages for the university presidents and executive director Mark Braun, following annual reviews of the four Tuesday and Wednesday.

The agenda is online and open portions of the meeting will be livestreamed on the board website.

In April, regents did a first read of proposed tuition and mandatory fee increases for 2025-26:

• A 3% ($278) tuition increase, to $9,530, for resident undergraduates
• A 4.5% ($1,232) tuition increase, to $28,578, for nonresident undergraduates
• A 3% tuition increase for graduate students, to $11,838 for in-state students and $29,976 for nonresidents
• A 3.5% ($1,020) tuition increase, to $30,154, for resident Doctor of Veterinary Medicine students ($43,977 for the 12-month fourth year)
• A 3% ($1,848) tuition increase, to $63,402, for nonresident Doctor of Veterinary Medicine students ($75,357 for the 12-month fourth year)

Mandatory student fees for all undergraduates would go up a proposed $26 (1.7%), to $1,561. The proposed new fee reflects a $10 increase to the technology fee (to $394) to support student-related software license fees and a $16 increase to the health fee (to $318) to support additional professional positions and higher supply costs.

Student comments on tuition increases

During a special May 19 board meeting, student leaders from the three universities offered comments about the proposed increases. Senior Colby Brandt, 2025-26 president of student government, and fourth-year Ph.D. candidate Muhammad Azhan, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Senate, represented Iowa State students. Consistent with their peers, they questioned why tuition increases are the solution, year after year, for tight operating budgets.

"[For students] It's another shift at work, another loan application, another question about whether we'll be able to afford textbooks, housing or simply stay enrolled," Brandt said. "This is especially true for students who are working class, first generation or come from rural areas. These students, who are coming to our public university seeking opportunity, are the students most likely to feel the impacts of the proposed tuition increase."

He added, "We urge the board to focus on increasing financial aid, pushing for stronger state support and identifying savings that won't come at the expense of student opportunity."

Azhan said the land-grant promise of access to research, education and service "is at risk when the cost of attending ISU continues to rise faster than the income [graduate students] receive." He specifically took issue with the two proposed fee increases.

Azhan acknowledged that public university tuition in Iowa is lower than many of the peer institutions, and Iowa's relative affordability "often is highlighted as a strength."

"Preserving accessibility means more than staying below the national average; it means ensuring the students can realistically afford to live on their income," he said. "If you want to remain competitive and continue attracting top talent from across the country and around the world, we must recognize that affordability is one of the most important factors in recruitment and retention."

ISU presidential search

At their May 19 meeting, the regents accepted President Wendy Wintersteen's retirement notification and authorized Braun to initiate a national search for her successor. Earlier this week, the regents announced a 12-member presidential search committee and a search firm to assist with the process, Washington, D.C.-based AGB Search.

Noting Wintersteen's Cyclone vehicle license plates read "To Serve," president Sherry Bates thanked her for "years of outstanding service" to the university community and called her a "Cyclone through and through."

"Her leadership, drive and innovation have moved the university forward, and her efforts have helped ISU remain one of the top land-grant universities in the nation," Bates said. "As her time winds down, I want to publicly acknowledge how much she has meant to our board and the state of Iowa. She has been a tremendous president for ISU."

Other ISU-related items on the agenda are:

• A proposed 3% increase to the professional and scientific pay grade structure (PDF), based on median increases for higher education and general industry since the last adjustment to the structure on July 1, 2024. These moves are intended to keep the compensation structure aligned with changes in the job market. Approximately 80 P&S employees whose current salary is below their new pay grade minimum would need to receive a salary increase, to at least the minimum, by Jan. 1, 2026.
• A proposed addition (PDF) to the board's policy manual that would prevent required courses (for a major, minor or certificate) from containing "substantial content that conveys [diversity, equity and inclusion] or [critical race theory]." As proposed, in even-number years, the regent universities could submit exception requests for courses that contain substantial DEI or CRT content.
• A proposed budget ($7.5 million) and schematic design for phase 2 of the pet cancer clinic at the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center. The second phase includes a 2,000-square-foot addition and renovation of 3,600 square feet of existing space for a comparative oncology center. Phase 1, a radiation therapy addition to the center, opened in 2019. College funds (about $5.2 million) and private gifts (about $2.3 million) will pay for phase 2. The work could begin later this fall.