University of Northern Iowa to offer in-state tuition to Minnesotans
The University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls will now offer in-state tuition to Minnesotans, along with five other neighboring states.
Courtesy University of Northern Iowa
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Audio transcript
CHRIS FARRELL: A new academic year begins at the end of this month, and Minnesota college freshmen headed to one Iowa school will be able to pay in-state tuition. The Iowa Board of Regents recently approved a plan to offer that discount to new University of Northern Iowa undergraduates from any neighboring state.
The university is in Cedar Falls, which is about-- it's about a two-hour drive from Rochester. And its tuition deal for students across the Iowa border is one of many strategies that institutions have used as enrollment has dipped around the country. Joining me now is reporter Vanessa Miller, Higher Education Reporter for the Iowa newspaper, The Gazette. Welcome.
VANESSA MILLER: Thanks for having me.
CHRIS FARRELL: All right, so what is the university's goal in making this move?
VANESSA MILLER: Well, honestly, UNI's enrollment has been declining in recent years. So it was up over 14,000 a few decades ago, in 2001, and has dipped down to 8,000-some in 2022. And it's inching back up.
But I know that that's one of its goals. And, obviously, there's this enrollment cliff that folks are talking about with the declining birth rate and fewer high school students graduating into college age kids. But also, they're pitching this as a workforce initiative for the state of Iowa, which is also looking at a gap in skilled workers who have degrees.
And so they're saying UNI has a high rate of keeping its students after graduation in the state working. So they're saying this is a recruitment tool that if we get students from Minnesota, for example, down into Iowa to get their degree, then they have a higher chance of staying here and working afterwards. So it's sort of a two-fold goal.
CHRIS FARRELL: That's intriguing. So this is part of that competition for talent that every state wants to keep their educated young people.
VANESSA MILLER: Exactly. Exactly. UNI does a great job of keeping its Iowans in state, but also brings in students from bordering states. And they have a high degree-- I think they said around 40%, 40% to 60%, of staying afterwards. So they're pitching that.
And that's what they used as a tool to try to get the state to appropriate some money for this program, which did not actually end up happening. But they came close. It looked like they would, and then they didn't.
CHRIS FARRELL: OK, so tell me, what is the University of Northern Iowa-- what is this known for? If I were a young person applying to colleges, are there certain programs at this university that I would find attractive?
VANESSA MILLER: Yeah. Well, it actually started as Iowa's Teachers College. So it's really strong in education. And that's where a lot of our K through 12 teachers are educated is at UNI, if we're talking about Iowans. It's the smallest of the three state schools. So there's the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and UNI.
It's the smallest, and so it has a more local, hometown feel. It's appealing to a lot of students who are coming from rural parts of the state and aren't wanting to go to a huge campus or a bigger city. They're intrigued by this smaller school.
But, yeah, UNI isn't one of the research one colleges. So it's not known for its medical college-- or ag is, obviously, and engineering is strong at Iowa State. But, yeah, a great school for liberal arts degree. It's great for, yeah, education, and some of the other social studies like psychology, et cetera-- history, those sorts of things.
CHRIS FARRELL: And you briefly mentioned this, want to go into more details. The college ran into some trouble funding this initiative?
VANESSA MILLER: Yeah. They had asked for $3 million from the state because they wanted to offer this lower rate to not only new students, like new freshmen and new transfer students, but for students that were currently at UNI from those border states. So if a Minnesotan is at UNI right now and is going to be a junior, they wanted to offer this rate to all these students. And they needed $3 million to make up the gap between what they would get and what they would be losing if they offered that rate.
The governor initially appropriated that in her recommended budget, and then when it went through the state house and the senate and the budget bill finally came out through the sausage machine, it had a $1.5 million amount allocated for that just for new students entering. The night before, and so that was all set to go before the board of regents for final approval, and the night before it was going to go to the board, the governor line item vetoed just that portion of the education budget bill, because she said there was some unclarity about how it would work-- again, she didn't know if the students that were entering would continue to get that rate throughout.
She didn't want this to be something that the state was on the hook to appropriate money for annually going forward, because, yeah, she didn't know what the commitments would be et cetera. So she said she is willing to continue to talk to UNI about it, but wasn't willing to put this in the budget right now on the premise that it would be ongoing.
And so UNI had to scramble. They even pulled UNI's tuition fees out of the board vote the next day and said, give us a month. We're going to look at this, think about it. And in that period of time, they got the foundation, their philanthropic arm, to commit to giving around $1.5 million to make this happen just this year.
And the hope is they'll keep it going, ongoing-- support students who get this rate, that they get it every year, et cetera, and it's still offered. But they're still working through what the funding model would look like. So hoping to go back to the state for that.
CHRIS FARRELL: So they decided it's worth taking the gamble.
VANESSA MILLER: Yeah. They want to do it. It's worth it. They think it will pay off. President Nook actually did say, though, that it will cost the university a good amount of money these first years. But he thinks it will pay off in the long run when they see enrollment increase. And they're actually projecting a seven-fold increase in enrollment is what they're really hoping for.
CHRIS FARRELL: And this is different from reciprocity agreements that states have-- like Minnesota has a number reciprocity agreements, students on one side of the border can get the lower tuition state. This is a one-sided move, right?
VANESSA MILLER: Yes. Yeah. We have no commitment from any of the border states that they will offer the same amount or the same in-state rate for Iowans. Except, I will say, that South Dakota is a state that currently offers in-state tuition for Iowa residents. But, again, that's the same thing as what this is from UNI's perspective. It's a one-sided deal.
So that was just South Dakota wanting to recruit students, Iowa students, into their state to go to college. And I think it's based on data from that model that they're projecting a seven-fold increase for UNI. So it must be showing some benefit, I guess, for South Dakota there.
CHRIS FARRELL: And so, in your reporting, are you getting a sense that this is being watched closely? Might other colleges and universities do something similar?
VANESSA MILLER: Well, yeah, it's unclear. I don't think that the University of Iowa or Iowa State is looking to do anything like this, because they already get a huge number of students from Illinois. Those numbers, for example, have just been surging, and they get a lot of money from that. So I don't think they want to decrease that rate at all.
But I wouldn't at all be surprised if UNI's peer schools, some of the smaller state schools in bordering states, offer the same. Because the competition is increasing with the number of students decreasing and the paths through higher education shifting.
It used to be more that people just went to college, and now there's more community college certificates, and paths, and options for students to take. So I wouldn't be surprised at all. And I am hearing that, for example, students have come down to orientation and are excited by this new rate. So I know that there has been talk among students that this is appealing for them.
CHRIS FARRELL: And, as a reporter, what are you going to be following in the coming year with this program?
VANESSA MILLER: Well, I will see what happens. It is kind of unclear what this will look like if you offer a freshman, for example, this lower rate this year but don't get the funding to support it going forward. Will their tuition all of a sudden jumped $12,000 to $22,000 as a sophomore and a junior?
Obviously, that's not their intent. And they want to keep this going. But finding funding to support it is really going to be key. So I'll be interested to see what they work out with the state legislature and the governor.
CHRIS FARRELL: Well, thank you very much for your time. I really appreciate it.
VANESSA MILLER: Yeah. Thanks again for having me.
CHRIS FARRELL: Vanessa Miller is the Higher Education Reporter for The Gazette, a newspaper based in Eastern Iowa.
The university is in Cedar Falls, which is about-- it's about a two-hour drive from Rochester. And its tuition deal for students across the Iowa border is one of many strategies that institutions have used as enrollment has dipped around the country. Joining me now is reporter Vanessa Miller, Higher Education Reporter for the Iowa newspaper, The Gazette. Welcome.
VANESSA MILLER: Thanks for having me.
CHRIS FARRELL: All right, so what is the university's goal in making this move?
VANESSA MILLER: Well, honestly, UNI's enrollment has been declining in recent years. So it was up over 14,000 a few decades ago, in 2001, and has dipped down to 8,000-some in 2022. And it's inching back up.
But I know that that's one of its goals. And, obviously, there's this enrollment cliff that folks are talking about with the declining birth rate and fewer high school students graduating into college age kids. But also, they're pitching this as a workforce initiative for the state of Iowa, which is also looking at a gap in skilled workers who have degrees.
And so they're saying UNI has a high rate of keeping its students after graduation in the state working. So they're saying this is a recruitment tool that if we get students from Minnesota, for example, down into Iowa to get their degree, then they have a higher chance of staying here and working afterwards. So it's sort of a two-fold goal.
CHRIS FARRELL: That's intriguing. So this is part of that competition for talent that every state wants to keep their educated young people.
VANESSA MILLER: Exactly. Exactly. UNI does a great job of keeping its Iowans in state, but also brings in students from bordering states. And they have a high degree-- I think they said around 40%, 40% to 60%, of staying afterwards. So they're pitching that.
And that's what they used as a tool to try to get the state to appropriate some money for this program, which did not actually end up happening. But they came close. It looked like they would, and then they didn't.
CHRIS FARRELL: OK, so tell me, what is the University of Northern Iowa-- what is this known for? If I were a young person applying to colleges, are there certain programs at this university that I would find attractive?
VANESSA MILLER: Yeah. Well, it actually started as Iowa's Teachers College. So it's really strong in education. And that's where a lot of our K through 12 teachers are educated is at UNI, if we're talking about Iowans. It's the smallest of the three state schools. So there's the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and UNI.
It's the smallest, and so it has a more local, hometown feel. It's appealing to a lot of students who are coming from rural parts of the state and aren't wanting to go to a huge campus or a bigger city. They're intrigued by this smaller school.
But, yeah, UNI isn't one of the research one colleges. So it's not known for its medical college-- or ag is, obviously, and engineering is strong at Iowa State. But, yeah, a great school for liberal arts degree. It's great for, yeah, education, and some of the other social studies like psychology, et cetera-- history, those sorts of things.
CHRIS FARRELL: And you briefly mentioned this, want to go into more details. The college ran into some trouble funding this initiative?
VANESSA MILLER: Yeah. They had asked for $3 million from the state because they wanted to offer this lower rate to not only new students, like new freshmen and new transfer students, but for students that were currently at UNI from those border states. So if a Minnesotan is at UNI right now and is going to be a junior, they wanted to offer this rate to all these students. And they needed $3 million to make up the gap between what they would get and what they would be losing if they offered that rate.
The governor initially appropriated that in her recommended budget, and then when it went through the state house and the senate and the budget bill finally came out through the sausage machine, it had a $1.5 million amount allocated for that just for new students entering. The night before, and so that was all set to go before the board of regents for final approval, and the night before it was going to go to the board, the governor line item vetoed just that portion of the education budget bill, because she said there was some unclarity about how it would work-- again, she didn't know if the students that were entering would continue to get that rate throughout.
She didn't want this to be something that the state was on the hook to appropriate money for annually going forward, because, yeah, she didn't know what the commitments would be et cetera. So she said she is willing to continue to talk to UNI about it, but wasn't willing to put this in the budget right now on the premise that it would be ongoing.
And so UNI had to scramble. They even pulled UNI's tuition fees out of the board vote the next day and said, give us a month. We're going to look at this, think about it. And in that period of time, they got the foundation, their philanthropic arm, to commit to giving around $1.5 million to make this happen just this year.
And the hope is they'll keep it going, ongoing-- support students who get this rate, that they get it every year, et cetera, and it's still offered. But they're still working through what the funding model would look like. So hoping to go back to the state for that.
CHRIS FARRELL: So they decided it's worth taking the gamble.
VANESSA MILLER: Yeah. They want to do it. It's worth it. They think it will pay off. President Nook actually did say, though, that it will cost the university a good amount of money these first years. But he thinks it will pay off in the long run when they see enrollment increase. And they're actually projecting a seven-fold increase in enrollment is what they're really hoping for.
CHRIS FARRELL: And this is different from reciprocity agreements that states have-- like Minnesota has a number reciprocity agreements, students on one side of the border can get the lower tuition state. This is a one-sided move, right?
VANESSA MILLER: Yes. Yeah. We have no commitment from any of the border states that they will offer the same amount or the same in-state rate for Iowans. Except, I will say, that South Dakota is a state that currently offers in-state tuition for Iowa residents. But, again, that's the same thing as what this is from UNI's perspective. It's a one-sided deal.
So that was just South Dakota wanting to recruit students, Iowa students, into their state to go to college. And I think it's based on data from that model that they're projecting a seven-fold increase for UNI. So it must be showing some benefit, I guess, for South Dakota there.
CHRIS FARRELL: And so, in your reporting, are you getting a sense that this is being watched closely? Might other colleges and universities do something similar?
VANESSA MILLER: Well, yeah, it's unclear. I don't think that the University of Iowa or Iowa State is looking to do anything like this, because they already get a huge number of students from Illinois. Those numbers, for example, have just been surging, and they get a lot of money from that. So I don't think they want to decrease that rate at all.
But I wouldn't at all be surprised if UNI's peer schools, some of the smaller state schools in bordering states, offer the same. Because the competition is increasing with the number of students decreasing and the paths through higher education shifting.
It used to be more that people just went to college, and now there's more community college certificates, and paths, and options for students to take. So I wouldn't be surprised at all. And I am hearing that, for example, students have come down to orientation and are excited by this new rate. So I know that there has been talk among students that this is appealing for them.
CHRIS FARRELL: And, as a reporter, what are you going to be following in the coming year with this program?
VANESSA MILLER: Well, I will see what happens. It is kind of unclear what this will look like if you offer a freshman, for example, this lower rate this year but don't get the funding to support it going forward. Will their tuition all of a sudden jumped $12,000 to $22,000 as a sophomore and a junior?
Obviously, that's not their intent. And they want to keep this going. But finding funding to support it is really going to be key. So I'll be interested to see what they work out with the state legislature and the governor.
CHRIS FARRELL: Well, thank you very much for your time. I really appreciate it.
VANESSA MILLER: Yeah. Thanks again for having me.
CHRIS FARRELL: Vanessa Miller is the Higher Education Reporter for The Gazette, a newspaper based in Eastern Iowa.
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