Tuition Set-Aside: Now's Your Chance to Tell the Iowa Regents What Should Happen

The issue of tuition set-aside surfaced in the spring with politicians and parents began questioning a decades old Iowa Board of Regents practice of using all student's tuition money to provide scholarships selected students on a basis of need or merit.

Critics called tuition set-aside an example of redistribution of wealth, while regents and universities said it was a needed money source to provide all the opportunity for higher education. Iowa has been a state that puts limited state money to scholarships. That could be changing following this episode.

More coverage from Patch:

Should Students (or Their Families) be Forced to Pay College Tuition for Other Students?

Are you just paying for your own child's tuition at the University of Iowa or also someone else's?

The public scrutiny about the practice prompted the regents to reevaluate.

They discussed eliminating the program within five years and seeking $40 million in a new state-funded student financial aid program for undergraduates.

Now the regents are seeking public input. Below is a news release from the regents with a link to provide input directly and additional background information.

Press release from Board of Regents:

Board of Regents Requests Public Input on Tuition Set-Aside

(URBANDALE, Iowa) – At its meeting on September 12, 2012, the Board of Regents received proposed recommendations from the Board’s Student Financial Aid Committee on the replacement of tuition set-aside funds to support need-based student financial aid for Iowa undergraduates. The Board also authorized the Board Office to solicit public input on this issue for the Committee’s consideration in developing its follow-up report to the Board to be presented at the October 24-25 meeting.

The public can submit comments to the Board Office on the proposed Committee recommendations via email at regents@iastate.edu. All public input received by the close of business on Wednesday, October 17, will be reviewed and considered by the Committee for its October report to the Board.

Additional information on the recommendations of the Student Financial Aid Committee can be found at the following links to the Board of Regents web site:

September 2012 Agenda Item – Board of Regents Student Financial Aid Committee Report – http://www.regents.iowa.gov/Meetings/DocketMemos/12Memos/September2012/0912_ITEM12.pdf.

September 2012 PowerPoint Presentation to Board – http://www.regents.iowa.gov/Meetings/DocketMemos/12Memos/September2012/presentationforitem12.pdf.

Audio of September 2012 Presentation to Board (beginning at approximately 1 hour, 21 minutes (1:21) – https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p15tsq0s60h/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal.