Iowa Governor Terry Branstad visited two university campuses Tuesday to tout ideas he says would make a college education more affordable for Iowa students. Branstad is calling on the three state-funded universities to consider setting up a flat, 10-thousand dollar tuition fee for a bachelor’s degree in the four most popular degree tracks.

In addition, Branstad suggests setting a “fixed price” for college degrees in at least half of the majors offered at Iowa, Iowa State and the University of Northern Iowa.
Branstad, a Republican who is seeking a sixth term as governor, has another idea for Iowans attending private college and universities in the state as well as Iowa students at the state-supported universities. He envisions setting up non-profit groups that would hand out grants to graduates to pay off their college debts. Branstad says the graduates should be required to do volunteer work to qualify for the grant — and he says the donors who put up the grant money should get some kind of a state tax credit.

And the budget numbers on which Branstad would base this and other state budget decisions won’t be available ’til December. Branstad met with students at Iowa State University on Tuesday morning and at Drake University Tuesday afternoon. The average debt load for an Iowa college graduate is about 29-thousand dollars, the sixth-highest in the country.