IOWA CITY, Iowa – Starting Jan. 1, University of Iowa students applying for residency were held to a new standard of 30 hours per week of work over the span of 12 months. Students may only register for up to six semester hours of class during the process.
This policy change seeks to increase the difficulty for students getting resident, or in-state tuition. Students were previously held to a 20-hour work week.
Nonresident students wishing to gain residency in Iowa must demonstrate financial independence from their home state. This is proven through four pages of documentation, and regular checkpoints. These checkpoints include submitting tax forms, a 12-month lease demonstrating summer and future dwelling in Iowa, and proof of working hours such as pay stubs.
Policy changes regarding tuition and residency do not happen often, and support for them ranges along a wide spectrum. Students and faculty alike expressed concerns and comments about the policy change. Larry Lockwood, the assistant provost of enrollment services at the Office of the Registrar at the University of Iowa, reasoned on behalf of the policy change.
“Of all the Big 10 institutions, Iowa ranks last in tuition payments . . . Many of the Illinois students, everybody wants to go to a Big 10 school . . . but many of the tuitions are very outlandish,” Lockwood said. “Penn State is the highest resident tuition at $17,000. We’re a little over $9,000.”
Larry Lockwood, assistant provost of enrollment services at the Office of the Registrar, had more to say about students applying to establish residency and their role at the University of Iowa. Specifically, how students from Illinois are affected by this change in regards to student life and how the University of Iowa and Iowan students are affected by nonresident students establishing residency. Listen below:
With nonresident students making up about 39 percent of the University of Iowa’s current first-year class of 2021, and 28 percent of them being from Illinois, the University of Iowa has lost a significant amount of tuition dollars as a result of students applying for and gaining residency.
“We have gone through 4 years of reduced tuition,” Lockwood said. “Many of the students from Illinois would file for residency; we were one of the easiest [institutions] to get into other than Missouri.”
This decrease in funding of the University of Iowa can be attributed to nonresident students gaining residency, but also the state of Iowa’s policies towards funding, or lack that is, of education.
“If there’s one thing this state does, is it doesn’t support education,” Lockwood said.
Several nonresident students from the University of Iowa have expressed their feelings about the policy change ranging from frustration to understanding.
Luke Pawlak, a first-year student from Lemont, Illinois, felt burdened by the new policy. Working over 30 hours per week, he is only enrolled in four semester hours to get more work in so that he can go home over breaks. Pawlak is currently paying around $2,000 per semester. He plans on making up his coursework when he gets the resident tuition rate, after the 12-month process.
Tuition for nonresident students can be pricey in contrast to resident tuition, even when only attending class half-time. Full-time students, or students taking 12 or more credit hours, would be charged closer to $20,000 as nonresidents.
“Even going from four to six semester hours jumps to about $5,000 [for a semester],” Pawlak said.
Merve Addemir, of Naperville, Illinois, was frustrated at the lack of services provided to nonresident students looking for residency. Referring to the staff as “wildly unhelpful in a difficult process,” Addemir was not impressed with the help afforded to students working through the process all by themselves.
“Failing classes is a large possibility,” Addemir said. “30 hours is a lot for a student. Campus jobs take up too much time for lackluster skills.”
Many University of Iowa students pick up more than one job in order to make the required 30 hours, as well as offset their cost of nonresident tuition. However, the University of Iowa only allows students to work 20 hours per week at campus jobs, forcing students in need of more hours to seek employment elsewhere off campus. This often creates transportation issues for students.
Due to difficulties in the residency process, other students have expressed differing reactions.
Devin Rieger, a first-year student from San Juan Capistrano, California, decided not to apply for residency because it would interfere with his education and course load as an engineering major. Rather than comparing Iowa tuition to other schools and states, Rieger was attracted to the University of Iowa by the College of Engineering’s good reputation.
The same can be said for Allison Mc Daid, a fifth-year transfer student from Elmhurst, Illinois. Mc Daid is not planning on applying for residency, but regrets not applying, as she ended up staying here longer.
“I might as well have paid less,” Mc Daid said. “I love Iowa, even though it’s got its flaws.”
Kaylynn Harris, a third-year student from Chicago, admitted that she understood the policy change. Harris did not believe the policy change was too drastic, as most students that apply for residency do not intend to stay in Iowa.
“Most out-of-state people come here and then go, ‘bye, Iowa’,” Harris said. “They don’t plant their roots here to reinvest in the investments that were made in themselves.”
Harris does not plan on applying for residency, as her financial aid and scholarships offset much of her cost. She plans on leaving Iowa, but is fortunate for the education and doesn’t mind paying what she does to get an education outside of Illinois.
Students who choose to apply for residency under the new policy may access the application online through the Office of the Registrar on the residency page, or visit the Residency Office in 34 Macbride Hall.
Philip Runia 