(Iowa Capital Dispatch) The Iowa Board of Regents approved tuition increases Thursday for students attending Iowa’s public universities in the upcoming academic year.
Regent Christine Hensley was once again the single vote against raising tuition by 3% for resident undergraduate students, citing concerns about student affordability and the belief that tuition increases should pause while other cost-saving measures are found.
Hensley said she expected to see more substantial savings come from eliminating academic programs with low enrollment, some of which the board approved during its Wednesday meeting. That wasn’t the case because faculty positions weren’t being eliminated alongside the courses. She also mentioned budget gaps discussed by university officials Wednesday, with expected multimillion-dollar shortfalls from predicted revenues to expenses.
“Nobody wants to have to deal with budget gaps,” Hensley said. “However, when you look at the overall percentage of those gaps compared to the total budget, I cannot believe that it’s going to be that difficult to make up those gaps.”
The Iowa Legislature is developing a budget that comes out to a 1.6% increase, Hensley said, and Iowa cities are “trying to adhere to” a 2% cap on budget increases compared to the approved 3% tuition increases. With an optional tuition guarantee program proposed in both board policy changes and in legislation and the revenue efficiency study still underway, Hensley said the board should pause on increasing tuition for this year, or at least raise it by a smaller percentage.
Regent Peter Cownie voted to approve the tuition increases, but said during the meeting he believes the board and universities can “do better” to keep tuition affordable for students.
“It is unenviable and unfortunate that we’re in this situation of uncertainty to vote for this right now,” Cownie said. “I want to be supportive, I am going to be supportive, but I don’t like the timing.”
Students express understanding and concerns
One fact Regent Lucy Gipple said gives her comfort as a University of Northern Iowa student having to deal with tuition increases is knowing that a portion of those tuition dollars is going back into supporting students.
Representatives from university student governments also showed understanding for the tuition increase, but emphasized to the board that rising costs can hurt students and a 3% increase presents itself differently to different students, undergraduate and graduate.
Gabriel Salazar, incoming student body president at the University of Northern Iowa, said UNI students see and understand the tuition increases, and that the student government has worked internally to identify areas of savings and new revenue streams.
Emily Cross, student body president-elect at the University of Iowa, told board members Thursday their commitment to predictable tuition increases through the cap included in board policy is meaningful to students trying to plan their future, but those increases don’t happen in isolation.
It’s not just one year of tuition increases for students making their way through college, Cross said, but annual increases that hit their university bill every year they attend school. As the costs compound, especially for students who are not from Iowa and pay more, they are having to make changes in their everyday lives to keep up, from taking on more work to avoiding opportunities in their education to taking out more loans to complete it.
“I appreciate the 3% cap, I appreciate the effort to provide consistency and avoid larger spikes in cost,” Cross said. “But I also want to make sure that the lived experience of students remains part of the conversation, because even within the cap, the financial impact is real.”
Board President Robert Cramer said there was much to balance in figuring out how to set tuition rates for the upcoming academic year, given that state funding could be flat and two-thirds of general university funding come from tuition.
Cramer said if both flat funding and a 3% tuition increase is assumed, the university system’s general education budget will see a net increase of 2%. He called that “pretty lean” when considering the board does not yet know what cost efficiencies will be identified by the board group tasked with finding them.
Universities may need to trim staff to save money, he said, and there’s always hope for enrollment growth but then additional staff may be needed to handle more students.
“We were feeling all that tension, and I feel like we’ve come to a result for this year that is reasonable and defendable,” Cramer said.
The Iowa Board of Regents approved tuition increases at its April 23, 2026 meeting. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
