Once more "to the mattresses"...

In follow-up to my recent rant on the costs of higher education, Monday's issue of The Daily Iowan headlined an article about the upcoming budget proposals in the Iowa House and Senate. Apparently the Board of Regents had requested a special supplement of $40 million in order to stabilize the rapid increase in tuition and support teaching salaries in the Regents universities. The House has proposed, instead, that the Regents receive $6.3 million. Reactions are mixed. Some politicians are outraged, others are optimistic that the amount will increase throughout the budget process. Another tidbit of information I was unaware of is that federal aid is decreasing. I don't know what to think about this situation, but consider this fact: between the academic years of 2000-01 and 2004-05, tuition at the University of Iowa went from $2906 to $4702. They are already planning at least a 4% tuition increase over the current year.

So, another budget cut, another tuition hike, and now decreasing federal aid....and how is the student from an average American household supposed to afford college??