Regents approve $250 tuition increase for resident undergrads

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

The Board of Regents, State of Iowa has approved a $250 increase in tuition for resident undergraduate students for fall 2016. This is $50 less than proposed by the University of Iowa and the first increase for resident undergraduate students at Iowa in three years.

“I respect the Board’s decision and understand the concerns of Iowa families,” said University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld. “We’ll go back to the budget to look for areas we can trim.” 

Tuition will increase as follows:

  • Undergraduate Resident $250
  • Undergraduate Non Resident $400
  • Business Lower Division Resident $450
  • Business Lower Division Non Resident $600
  • Business Upper Division Resident $650
  • Business Upper Division Non Resident $800
  • Engineering 2nd Year Resident $450
  • Engineering 2nd Year Non Resident $600
  • Engineering Upper Division Resident $600
  • Engineering Upper Division Non Resident $750
  • Graduate Resident $300
  • Graduate Non Resident $400
  • Professional Resident $300
  • Professional Non Resident $400

This is in addition to the $200 increase for resident undergraduates for the fall of 2016 approved by the Board in December 2015. Students are paying a larger share of the cost of their education as the percentage of state funding declines.

Still the UI will remain one of the most affordable options for students, with the second lowest undergraduate tuition in the Big Ten—about $3,500 less than the average Big Ten tuition.

“We’ve had a collaborative budgeting process that involved the Deans, unit leaders, and shared governance leaders and we’ll return to that process to determine which strategic initiatives we can fund and which will likely have to wait,” said President Harreld.


The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.