Iowa Regents could ‘tip the balance’

The number of traditional college-age Iowans - and the number of high school seniors in Iowa - has declined in recent years and is expected to continue doing so, according to state and national estimates.

That trend - along with a new Board of Regents funding model that gives the most money to its public universities for enrolling Iowans - has the state's higher education players preparing to fight harder for its shrinking pool of college-bound residents.

And the ramped-up competition goes beyond Iowa's public universities - the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and University of Northern Iowa. Iowa has 26 private colleges and 15 community colleges that also want a piece of the in-state-student pie.

'This is not great news for (privates schools),” Michael White, vice president for administration and enrollment services at Coe College, said about the new Board of Regents funding model.

'There are only so many students to go around. If more of them go to UI or Iowa State or UNI, that is fewer that will consider going to private colleges.”

Private and community college officials have voiced several concerns about the Board of Regents' recent decision to tie 60 percent of the state's higher education dollars to resident enrollment.

Some are worried a push for more Iowa students among the public universities will hurt private and community college enrollment and affect their bottom lines. Others have said the change could affect the quality of education, as more money will go toward recruitment and marketing instead of instruction and programs.

And some have taken a broader view, saying heightened competition among Iowa's higher education institutions might hurt the state's economy.

'There has been a recent focus on economic development and the need for middle-skill workers,” said Kristie Fisher, vice president of student services with Kirkwood Community College. 'Does this take some of the kids out of the pipeline for really good two-year degrees that can go directly into the workforce?”

Fisher said Iowa's community colleges have good relationships with public and private universities in the state regarding transfer students, shared programs and instruction.

'All those pieces of the higher education environment work well together,” she said. 'I hope we never lose that. But it does worry me that something might tip the balance.”

‘Budgetary concerns'

Meghan Brock of Cedar Falls is taking nursing classes at Kirkwood, in part because of cost and admission barriers at the UI College of Nursing. But if the university program had been more accessible, Brock said, she would have become a Hawkeye. And several of her classmates agreed.

If Iowa's public universities take steps to enroll more students like Brock, Fisher said, private and community colleges could take a hit.

'It could drive down enrollment and drive up cost for higher education for some families,” she said.

Kirkwood's enrollment in fall 2013 was 15,345, and Fisher said officials consider that 'a nice level.” To drop below that would hurt the budget.

'Any time you would have a dip in enrollment, there would be budgetary concerns,” she said. 'But we are always looking for efficiencies. It's something we do on a regular basis.”

In addition to tying 60 percent of state dollars to resident enrollment, the regents' new funding model allocates:

'15 percent for progress and attainment,

'10 percent for access,

'5 percent for sponsored research,

'5 percent for graduate and professional student enrollment, and

'5 percent left up to the regents to decide.

State funds historically have been distributed using a 'base-plus” model that, most recently, gave 46 percent to UI, 36 percent to ISU and 18 percent to UNI.

Supporters of the new model said the old system was out of whack and this more appropriately supplements in-state tuition, which does not cover the cost of education as out-of-state does. It also spends more Iowa tax dollars on Iowans.

If the new funding model were implemented in one year, UI would lose about $47.8 million. But because the new system will roll out over a three-year period beginning in 2016 and will cap the amount of money that can move from one university to another at 2 percent of the 2013 budget, the effect will be less severe.

If resident enrollment figures remain unchanged, UI could lose $12.9 million a year, and ISU would become the top-funded university in the state. But UI officials have said they don't intend to let that happen, and they're rolling out aggressive recruitment strategies to net more in-state students.

Some of Iowa's private and community colleges rely more heavily on in-state students than others. But at Kirkwood more than 90 percent of its students are Iowans, Fisher said.

Because of its proximity to UI in Iowa City, many Kirkwood students jointly enroll in the university, according to Fisher. The same is true for those community colleges positioned near Iowa's other public universities.

'It's a huge partnership for us,” she said.

The hope, she said, is that the new regent model won't upset that collaboration.

'But we respond well to changes in our environment,” Fisher said. 'So if we need to respond, we'll respond.”

Spending more to recruit

At Coe College, admissions officials are used to steep competition.

'We all are attempting to go after many of the same students, and that creates a very competitive marketplace,” Vice President White said.

About 60 percent of Coe's 1,420 students are from Iowa, and - although Coe's student body is growing - the college has seen a slight decline in resident enrollment, White said.

'So competition between other private schools, regent universities and community colleges already has impacted schools like Coe,” he said. 'And every year it gets more competitive.”

White said Coe probably won't respond directly to UI efforts to attract more resident applicants, 'but we are inclined to be aggressive with our outreach efforts.”

Mount Mercy University, a Cedar Rapids-based private Catholic institution that gets most of its students from Iowa, plans to do the same.

'We will be working harder and spending more money to recruit students,” said Terri Crumley, Mount Mercy dean of admissions. 'And I don't know if that is in the best interest of students because there is only so much money to go around.”

In addition to working harder to attract local students, Mount Mercy is expanding its out-of-state recruitment efforts - traveling to Minneapolis, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Omaha, for example, Crumley said.

But the concern is that funneling more money toward attracting students will short them on the flip side, once they're enrolled.

'Basically it means that the dollars we used to serve students on campus now will be used to market those students,” she said.

Crumley said she'd like to see regents place more emphasis on degree attainment, educational quality and student job placement.

'We should be thinking about what are they doing as they leave us?” she said. 'How many are staying in Iowa? How are they doing? Are they getting jobs? Most of our students who go to privates tend to stay in Iowa and add to the tax base.”

‘Unintended consequences'

That gets to concerns over a larger economic impact on the state. UI and ISU both attract thousands of out-of-state students each year, and Crumley said many Iowa communities are the benefactors.

'When we bring students from out of state, they stay in Iowa,” she said. 'That revenue affects the economy.”

If the new funding model tips the scales on resident enrollment and shifts the priorities for regent universities, Crumley said the state could suffer.

'There might be some unintended consequences,” she said. 'This changes the playing field a little bit.”

Luther College in Decorah pulls more students than some private institutions from outside the state - about 70 percent. But Rob Larson, vice president for Luther's communication and marketing, said he still worries about how the new regent formula might affect the quality of education in Iowa.

'We have concerns that it focuses on something different than higher education should be focused on,” Larson said. 'And I do have concerns that the state institutions will be fighting intensely for the same kid. That sort of internal competition on the recruiting side doesn't do any service for the state or improve the product that any of us put out.”

On the other hand, if the UI - for example - rolls out an aggressive marketing campaign highlighting Iowa's educational and employment opportunities, Larson said that could be a positive.

'That would be good for the entire state to point out the reasons why staying here can have tremendous value,” he said.