Iowa City - University of Iowa student leaders met last week with eleven legislators from across the state of Iowa. The meetings, which occurred in legislators’ home districts and at the State Capitol, focused on affordability and job opportunities for Iowa students.
“First and foremost, we wanted to thank legislators for making the tuition freeze possible this year,” said Katherine Valde, UI’s undergraduate student body president. “We also had really productive discussions about how to continue the tuition freeze in years to come through a combination of increased state appropriations and continued efficiency initiatives on the campuses.”
While the response to keeping in-state undergraduate tuition unchanged this year has been overwhelmingly positive amongst students, it also appears to be playing well in legislators’ home districts. “Several lawmakers mentioned that they were hearing from UI students’ parents about the ways the tuition freeze is making paying for college easier this year,” said undergraduate student body vice president Jack Cumming.
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Student leaders and legislators also discussed keeping students in the state after they graduate. “Our plan involves building a pipeline that will link Iowa students with in-state job opportunities,” said Ben Gillig, the graduate and professional student body president at UI. The University of Iowa has already begun building this pipeline by connecting students with Iowa professional associations. “We need to be more explicit about asking Iowa students to remain in the state once they graduate,” said Gillig, “but we also need to provide them the resources and incentives to do so.”
Student leaders asked legislators to expand the Iowa jobs database already in place for teaching positions to include professions such as medicine, law, pharmacy, dentistry, engineering, and others. “Beyond having information on in-state jobs, Iowa graduates need to be incentivized to stay here once they graduate,” Gillig added. To help accomplish this, student leaders asked legislators to allow Iowa graduates to write their student loan repayments off their state taxes. “Tax incentives will help to encourage Iowa’s most educated students to remain and contribute to the state’s economy,” Gillig said.
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Over the next months, UI students will continue to meet with state leaders and members of the Board of Regents, State of Iowa to promote the university and highlight its impact on the state. Said Valde: “We are excited to continue working with our state legislators and the governor to help keep university education affordable and grow the Iowa economy.”
A complete list of legislator meetings is below:
Senator Brian Schoenjahn in Oelwein
Senator Wally Horn and Representative Daniel Lundby in Cedar Rapids
Senator Roby Smith in Davenport
Senator Amanda Ragan and Representative Sharon Steckman in Mason City
Representative Jake Highfill at the Capitol
Representative Rob Taylor in Clive
Speaker of the House Kraig Paulsen at the Capitol
Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal in Council Bluffs
Senator Herman Quirmbach in Ames