Iowa college prices draw "F" rating

September 15, 2004 Seth Bokelman

Tuition and fees at Iowa public universities have increased 71 percent in the past five years to an average $5,403 this school year. Costs rose 42 percent at community colleges during the same period and now average $2,754 .

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According to the report, 28 percent of family incomes are needed to pay for a public four-year university in Iowa, up from 18 percent a decade ago. Meanwhile, the state's poorest students devote 36 percent of their family incomes to attend a community college after financial aid is factored in, the report says.

I work here, and I'm scared by the price of tuition. If I want to take a single three-credit graduate-level class, in-state tuition is over $1,000, plus the cost of books. There's a staff training grant in place, but due to budget cuts, the amount of money shared between all staff taking classes hasn't been increased in at least 6 years, while the price of tuition has more than doubled, making the University's contribution negligible at this point.

I think the state should employ a plan to offer either forgivable, or 0% interest loans to graduates of our state universities that plan to stay in the state of Iowa after graduation. One of the biggest problems facing Iowa is that most of our college graduates flee to Minneapolis, Kansas City, Omaha, or Chicago upon graduation. Giving them some financial incentive to stay in the state would hopefully slow this flight.