University of Northern Iowa President William Ruud says the effort to freeze tuition at the three state universities for a third consecutive year will likely hinge on Governor Terry Branstad’s decision on state funding for the schools. The governor has said he doesn’t like the legislature’s decision to provide “one time” money for a single year instead of adding it to the overall base funding for the universities.
Lawmakers approved $5.1 million for UNI’s annual base funding and $1.1 million in onetime funding. According to Ruud, it’s not enough.
About 90% of UNI’s roughly 12,000 students are from Iowa. Ruud doesn’t believe there’s a need or desire to grow enrollment at UNI much higher than 14,000.
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