Should the Legislature pass a bill requiring the University of Iowa to establish a “School of Intellectual Freedom,” the endeavor could cost the campus $1.5 million annually to maintain — not including one-time startup costs associated with the launch.
Another measure to waive tuition and fees at Iowa’s public universities for any Iowa resident earning a perfect score on the ACT, SAT or Classic Learning Test could cost the campuses half a million dollars by 2029.
And a legislative proposal aimed at upping Iowa-resident enrollment in the UI Colleges of Medicine and Dentistry could deprive the institution of $5.7 million in out-of-state tuition income over a four-year span, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency.
Those millions represent a fraction of the financial toll a spate of higher education legislation under consideration by the Iowa Legislature could have on colleges and universities in the state — which lawmakers said would be the benefactor of the bills.
“Unfortunately, University of Iowa's retention of the physician workforce in Iowa is not providing the results for the entire state that we'd like to see,” Rep. Ann Meyer, a Republican from Fort Dodge, said Wednesday during debate in the Iowa House of House File 516, which would affect the UI medical and dental colleges.
Rep. Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge
Passing 67-28 with support from Republicans and three Democrats, the bill aims to “focus our taxpayer-funded institution on intentional efforts to grow the health care workforce of Iowa,” she said.
The Legislature for the current budget year has appropriated $573 million in education appropriations to the regent universities — which for the upcoming 2026 budget year have requested a $24.9 million increase.
Only $2.5 million of that increase would go toward general education support — to the University of Northern Iowa, specifically. The rest would go toward specific priorities across the three campuses — including $10 million for a “rural Iowa health care” initiative out of the UI.
HF516 — should it become law — would require no less than 80 percent of students accepted into the UI College of Dentistry and College of Medicine’s doctor of medicine program be Iowa residents or enrolled in an Iowa college or university before applying.
In the 2023-2024 academic year, the UI College of Medicine admitted 153 medical students, about 70 percent of whom were Iowa residents. The dental college also reported about 70 percent of its 80 students that year were from Iowa.
Since non-resident tuition for the medical program in the 2025 term is $59,000 a year — 54 percent above the $38,000 for instate students — and non-resident dentistry students pay $84,000 a year, 43 percent above the $59,000 for resident students, the colleges can anticipate lost revenue of half a million in the first year.
With expected tuition increases, those losses would grow to $1.1 million in the second year, $1.7 million in the third year and $2.3 million in the fourth year, according to the agency’s projection.
Potential returns on this new law would come to the state, which faces a health care provider shortage, according to lawmakers like Meyer, who said UI retention rates are low — with 81 percent of Iowa natives who graduated from its med school between 2020 and 2024 leaving for residencies in other states.
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Another measure to waive tuition and fees at Iowa’s public universities for any Iowa resident earning a perfect score on the ACT, SAT or Classic Learning Test could cost the campuses half a million dollars by 2029.
And a legislative proposal aimed at upping Iowa-resident enrollment in the UI Colleges of Medicine and Dentistry could deprive the institution of $5.7 million in out-of-state tuition income over a four-year span, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency.
Those millions represent a fraction of the financial toll a spate of higher education legislation under consideration by the Iowa Legislature could have on colleges and universities in the state — which lawmakers said would be the benefactor of the bills.
“Unfortunately, University of Iowa's retention of the physician workforce in Iowa is not providing the results for the entire state that we'd like to see,” Rep. Ann Meyer, a Republican from Fort Dodge, said Wednesday during debate in the Iowa House of House File 516, which would affect the UI medical and dental colleges.
Passing 67-28 with support from Republicans and three Democrats, the bill aims to “focus our taxpayer-funded institution on intentional efforts to grow the health care workforce of Iowa,” she said.
The Legislature for the current budget year has appropriated $573 million in education appropriations to the regent universities — which for the upcoming 2026 budget year have requested a $24.9 million increase.
Only $2.5 million of that increase would go toward general education support — to the University of Northern Iowa, specifically. The rest would go toward specific priorities across the three campuses — including $10 million for a “rural Iowa health care” initiative out of the UI.
‘Increase our physician workforce’
HF516 — should it become law — would require no less than 80 percent of students accepted into the UI College of Dentistry and College of Medicine’s doctor of medicine program be Iowa residents or enrolled in an Iowa college or university before applying.
In the 2023-2024 academic year, the UI College of Medicine admitted 153 medical students, about 70 percent of whom were Iowa residents. The dental college also reported about 70 percent of its 80 students that year were from Iowa.
Since non-resident tuition for the medical program in the 2025 term is $59,000 a year — 54 percent above the $38,000 for instate students — and non-resident dentistry students pay $84,000 a year, 43 percent above the $59,000 for resident students, the colleges can anticipate lost revenue of half a million in the first year.
With expected tuition increases, those losses would grow to $1.1 million in the second year, $1.7 million in the third year and $2.3 million in the fourth year, according to the agency’s projection.
Potential returns on this new law would come to the state, which faces a health care provider shortage, according to lawmakers like Meyer, who said UI retention rates are low — with 81 percent of Iowa natives who graduated from its med school between 2020 and 2024 leaving for residencies in other states.
Bills targeting Iowa universities could cost the campuses millions
A legislative proposal aimed at upping Iowa-resident enrollment in the UI Colleges of Medicine and Dentistry could deprive the institution of $5.7 million in out-of-state tuition income over a four-year span, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency.
www.thegazette.com
