Hunter
05/06/26
Iowa’s three state-run universities will have to run on the same appropriations as they have the last two years, as legislators denied all of the $8.2 million increase they requested for the 2027 budget year.
This comes as the universities must start requiring undergraduate students to take an American History and American Government course to graduate, a mandate that the Legislative Services Agency projects will cost the universities an extra $2.1 million annually because of the need for more faculty to teach the additional sections.
The Gazette reports that the bill passed late Sunday requires the Center for Cyclone Civics at Iowa State and the Center for Civic Education at UNI shall designate courses to satisfy the new requirements.
At the University of Iowa, the Center for Intellectual Freedom will be responsible for offering courses to satisfy the new requirements. The Center has gotten off to a slow start, with demand being so low that officials had to cancel one of the sections.
The three universities are looking at a projected combined budget deficit of $15 to $20 million for the upcoming year due to the flat funding, a cap on tuition increases, and declining enrollment.