OSKALOOSA — William Penn University, like many other private colleges in the state, continues to find unique ways to attract Iowa students. They’ve invested in their curriculum, made the programs more flexible with daytime, evening and nontraditional classes and focused on developing the campus culture to be a meaningful, purposeful experience. To celebrate William Penn University’s legacy of educational opportunities, they’re offering a new scholarship to Iowa high school seniors enrolling in traditional coursework at the Oskaloosa campus. If eligible, the student will pay $5,000 or less for tuition for the 2017-18 school year.
“It’s time for a new approach to building better relationships with policymakers. We need legislators from outside regent communities to be on the task force.” --------------------- OWA CITY — With state support for higher education floundering, and more tuition increases looming, several lawmakers say they support and would be involved in a Board of Regents-led task force focused on future tuition-setting practices and rates. During its April meeting last week in Council Bluffs, board members pitched the idea of forming a task force with “a wide representation of regent constituencies” that could meet this summer to have a discussion about tuition at the public universities. Outgoing board President Bruce Rastetter said the collaboration could address state priorities and help students and families plan. “The board has tried very hard in the last five years to get out in front to let legislators and parents know what our tuition increase would be if we get a certain amount of state support,” Rastetter said. “Clearly that went off the rails this year because of the Iowa economy. But there was also a difference in how Iowa funds education and how the regents system has been funded.” Board spokesman Josh Lehman said this week his office is developing a framework for such a group. At the meeting, Rastetter said that Iowa “really needs a holistic approach to whether it can afford all the education that it has — the pre-K-12, the community college system, the Iowa Tuition Grant program, and properly funding the regents.” Propelling the idea was a rough legislative session brought on by lower-than-expected state revenue growth. Lawmakers delivered body blows to the public universities — cutting $20.8 million from their base general education funding for the current year and further reducing base state appropriations in 2018. The cuts prompted regents last week to signal another tuition increase for fall — on top of the already approved 2 percent rise for resident undergraduates. Later this summer, the board cou
I have had a chance to quickly read the Iowa gay marriage decision. Here are some initial thoughts (subject to correction or revision upon further reflection!). First, people here that I've talked to are generally surprised that the court was unanimous and that it fully endorsed same sex marriage, not something like civil unions. The court's unanimity, in my view, is a definite sign that the court wanted to maximize its institutional legitimacy by joining together, despite the fact that its members have disagreements in numerous other cases. The court also reasoned pretty bluntly that civil unions amounted to treating gay people as second class citizens. Second, regardless of one's view on the gay marriage issue, I think this is a well crafted legal opinion for several reasons.