Should Iowa universities continue to have some students basically foot the bill to help other students attend college?

I guess I don't quite understand this whole concept. Can you explain this a little further ? This almost sounds like some sort of scam but those that are paying the bill are not aware of what is going on.

I need more clarification as well. This does not sound right. Students should be given a choice to that money or it should not be charged.

Taxation without representation was at the core of the American revolution. How is this really any different? Appointed (not elected) regents are setting tuiton which is inflated to cover the costs of others (regardless of what they call this extra payment it is a tax). it is time for our elected legislature to act.

The state doesn't have much in the way of financial aid for its public universities. So the universities/regents implemented this in the 1980s as a way to underwrite a financial aid program and keep the schools affordable for students. The regents codified setting aside 15% in mid 2000s and in the last few years they've upped the set aside percentage as tuition has increased higher than inflation. I think the problem is many families feel like they did not know they were paying for this. I don't believe students see itemized in their bill, although the tuition set aside program is reported to the regents and discussed as part of the annual tuition report. Does that help?

I'm not happy to find out that 24% of my daughter's tuition costs at the University of Iowa go to pay part of someone else's scholarship. She's gone into debt with student loans and would be more in debt if we weren't helping her. Thank God for Pell grants! Otherwise, she'd be even more in the hole.

So I'm guessing nobody is going to like the concept of some students paying tuition for other students. Who would like doing that if they didn't have to? Likely very few people.

My question is, though, is this practice was obviously instituted for a reason. With universities already battling for the funding they do get, what is going to happen if this practice is going to be eliminated? That's millions of dollars worth of needs based student aid at a time when tuition is still going up, and lower income individuals need higher education. Is there a proposal for what to do about that if this is eliminated?

If it's more funding diverted from the state to the universities, that is another form of being forced to pay for someone else's kids-- it's called taxes. And yes I'm aware most people don't like that either.

It seems to me that it would be better for state lawmakers to work with the Regents Universities to try to lower tuition for everyone, as this would benefit students of all economic backgrounds and hopefully reduce the need for student aid.

I guess it doesn't take a village...I knew Hillary was off base when she said that. If it is the policy of the Universities to do this, and they haven't been hiding the fact, what right does anyone have to complain? If you had a problem with this, the time to do something was before you sent your kids to a Iowa public university. I have 4 children, and I hope they all attend college. Yes I will help them, and no it won’t really bother me to know I am helping someone else…What kind of selfish cold hearted jerk would have a problem with it? Oh that kind…

Are we a me, me, me society or do we care about our community? When does caring about the self border on acting selfish? Not all students have the same opportunities. Despite our semblance of living in a democracy, we are not all equal.

If we don't all start out with the same opportunities, things can't even begin to be fair. Living in a community means giving back to a community, supporting a community. If everyone had and used the money they needed, millionaires and billionaires would be unnecessary.

It goes beyond knowing it because there is nothing a student can do but pay the amount that goes to others. Yes, there should be financial assistance for students in need along with the opportunity for student loans and work study. Any other financial assistance shouldn't be paid by fellow students who are taking on loans and/or working their way through college. Let that assistance dollars be raised by the universities and their very successful foundations.

College education should be free for everyone that wants one. Education is the backbone of this country. We have to decide what is more important, shipping jobs and money overseas or making our country stronger and able to compete.

Incredible. At least my kid and I should have been told that she was helping to pay someone else's tuition. I told her this morning. It was news to her, and not very good news. So she's $17,000 in debt so she can help pay someone else's tuition. And some of you think that's okay? The struggling middle class is having a hard enough time sending their kids to college. Why make it harder?

Oh, and our college student also has worked since she was 16 years old, continuously, and babysat before she turned 16. So my kid has to work AND go to school to help pay someone else's tuition? If some of you think that's okay, think again. We should at least have been told.

Yeah. In the same sense that we expect (even if the reality isn't always a reflection of that expectation) that the wealthy will pay higher taxes to subsidize a public service.

This post is a honeypot, in the same sense that a blog post asking "SHOULD WELL-TO-DO DRIVERS BE FORCED TO PAY FOR ROADS THAT ANY POOR SLOB CAN DRIVE ON?"

One of the central pieces of this debate isn't whether their should be financial aid to help those that can't afford it get into our public universities, it's who should pay for it. Should it be the state as a whole (i.e. all tax payers) or just students and their families.

I remember speaking with a finance professor some time ago about this type of tuition model where tuition is raised higher so students who can afford it pay more, and then there is more money to subsidize education for lower income students who need help. He said this is the most sustainable way to maintain access for all and quality at public universities at a time when the public no longer wants to use tax dollars to subsidize.

The more the legislature starves the universities for money, the more the regents will have to come up with creative ways to make the universities affordable for deserving students from low income families.

Every one of us who has health insurance has been doing this same thing for years. Our rates are "artificially" higher to subsidize those who can't afford insurance or refuse to buy it, but yet still get sick or injured and need medical care, but then can't or don't pay their bills. We also subsidize our community hospitals through higher taxes when they are forced to write off unpaid medical care.

The students who pay tuition (essentially all of them) contribute to the fund and, in turn, they were/are eligible apply for grants - this eases the blow a bit - at least they have a chance of getting some back.

Say the amount withheld and redistributed is 20% (the university retains 80% of tuition collected.

Maybe it'd be easier to swallow if tuition was simply not charged to 20% of students in the first place? It sounds fairer but the net financial result for the university is the same.

Maybe it is not done the second way (by tuition waivers) because it takes time to do the necessary evaluating and choosing?

Or maybe my logic is horribly wrong.

Could the Patch address the problem of state universities continually building more and more expensive buildings while making cuts to programs/raising tuition? When officials are asked about this they say that it is because they are two different funds...Why isn't the legislature or the BOR placing a hold on all building expansion until the universities shore up the funds to pay professors and (gasp) lower the tuition for all students?

Lori Lindner, it shouldn't be as hard as it is for students to go to college or learn a skilled trade. My daughter is $17,000 in debt and we pay our taxes. We've done enough. It's the lack of transparency that upsets me most. Of course I know that Pell grants come from the federal government. Pell grants come from MY taxes, too!

If we all give a little, scholarships are possible. But 24% of each in-state student's tuition to pay for someone else's tuition is too much. We give and give till it hurts, and my daughter is in debt. Not fair.

Question to people who feel the tuition set aside program is not transparent: What should be done to make it transparent?

We just posted this opinion piece on tuition set-aside. It's coming from a specific point of view, although lots of information. Transparency and Accountability in Iowa Tuition and Set-Aside Surcharge Scheme Is Needed: http://cedarfalls.patch.com/announcements/transparency-and-accountability-in-iowa-tuition-and-set-aside-surcharge-scheme-is-needed

President Obama's quote in the Press Citizen (April 26) from his speech AT the University about the cost of college and student loans sums it up nicely, "...Think about that. We're going to help some students by messing with other students. That's not a good answer." I know he was talking about freezing student loans and the cost of college but it is also appropriate here! As the mom of a UofI student who is here on scholarships and loans, because my husband makes "to much money" for aid, I do not think that she, or any student, should be forced to pay 24% to help" other students! They can work 2 jobs while going to school and the parents can take out loans too!

Mitt Romney says students can borrow the money from their parents. In his world parents have the money to loan and probably even forgive the loans.

David Leonard, isn't Mitt Romney clueless? Every time he opens his mouth to talk as if he understands the average citizen, he puts his foot in it. He has no clue.

Ms. H, thanks for your compliment! We're hoping Sarah's job as a student environmental systems analyst will lead to a good job once she graduates in environmental sciences. I was so proud of her when she got her hardhat, steel-toed boots, Carrhart jeans, and gas mask. I've always told her not to go into a female-dominated profession, which is what I did, twice.