A bill that would freeze undergraduate tuition at Iowa’s three public universities for five years has won overwhelming approval in the Iowa House. The tuition rate set for this fall at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa would be in place through July of 2031 if the bill becomes law. Representative Taylor Collins, a Republican from Mediapolis, says it would give students predictability and push the universities to cut costs. “I think we’re at a point when it comes to higher education that we can’t just keep giving them more money and hoping and praying they don’t raise tuition and so that’s one of the reasons why we moved forward this tuition freeze, to make sure that we’re drawing a line in the sand,” Collins says. “We have to find other ways to cut expenditures.”
The bill passed on an 86-to-five vote. Democrats have recently proposed freezing students’ tuition, but they also argue the state support Iowa, Iowa State and U-N-I needs to increase.
