A study from the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education finds Iowa ranks 28th for the cost of college education. William Doyle, an associate professor at Vanderbilt, helped put together the College Affordability Diagnosis. He says they looked at the net price being charged to families based on their family income and compared that what families were able to pay, and the costs to attend in the cities were students attend college. He says the cost of community college figured into Iowa’s 28th place ranking.

“One of the big factors is that the net prices of community colleges are relatively high in Iowa in comparison to other states. And that’s where many undergraduate students enroll,” Doyle says. “So, having these relatively more expensive institutions where a lot of Iowans are going, hurts Iowa’s overall rankings.” The report says students would have to work 28 hours a week, on average, to cover the annual costs of attending a two-year public college full time. It says those schools are even less affordable for those earning less than 30-thousand dollars a year, as families would need to spend nearly half of their family income to pay for the costs. The Board of Regents is looking at raising tuition again at the three state universities after a couple of years of freezing tuition. Doyle says the tuition freeze sounds good, but it has to be viewed in a bigger picture.

“One thing about these tuition freezes, lots of states go through this pattern where they might lock down tuition for a couple of years and then it increases quite rapidly when some difficult economic times return,” Doyle says. “Better to have moderate predictable increases, increases kind of no more than family income, increases over time so people can make plans appropriately.” He says the state needs to provide more financial aid to students.

“Iowa has relatively low investment in need-based financial aid at its public institutions. The state has a fairly generous system for students at private institutions — but doesn’t provide as much as many other states do for students at public institutions,” Doyle says. The report says Iowa provides 39 dollars per student in need-based financial aid to those attending public institutions, compared to the national average of 474 dollars. Doyle says there’s also a large gap between the number of Hispanic and the number of white students who can afford to attend college in Iowa as the Hispanic population has grown.

“Like a lot of other states, if Iowa wants to have a more highly educated population, it’s going to have to provide more access to higher education for groups who traditionally haven’t had much access to higher education,” Doyle says. “That includes under represented groups like Hispanic students and families. And the overall education attainment of Hispanic students and families is lower than it is for say white students and families.” Doyle says Alaska is the number one school on their list for affordability.

“They way Alaska got there…institutions where most of the students go are more afforable, they are low price institutions. And also in Alaska the prices are low relative to what students and families are able to pay,” according to Doyle.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Board of Supervisors have a lot on the agenda for their 8:30-a.m. meeting Friday, in Atlantic.  Among the action items, is: A review of a construction permit application for Southwest Iowa Egg; a resolution endorsing county funds for a Vision Iowa CAT grant, with removal of an ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] accessible fishing pier from the resolution; and, Adoption of the Cass County Multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan.

The Board will also hear and act on: A request from the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund for improvements to the County’s portion of the Atlantic City Park; A request for funding from Cass County Tourism officials, to help pay for tourism brochures; A resolution for appointment of deputies/assistants by the County Attorney, Treasurer and Auditor; Authorizing the County Recorder to purchase equipment needed to take passport photos, and approval of the “4th amendment to the Cooperative Reimbursement Agreement” (Child Support Recovery Office), incorporating the Program budget for State Fiscal Year 2017.

The Board will also hear reports from: Cass County Tourism officials; Cass County Veterans Affairs, and County Engineer. And, if a person is available for the position, the Board will act on appointing a Grove Township Trustee to fill a vacancy term that ends Dec. 31st, 2018.

The Board of Supervisor’s meeting, as always, takes place in their Boardroom on the second floor of the Cass County Courthouse.

Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman reports that beginning today, Thursday, April 28, a voter who chooses to vote prior to June 7, may cast a ballot at the office of the county auditor.

In Cass County the voter may go to the CASS COUNTY COURTHOUSE during the regular office hours of 8 AM and 4:30 PM, Monday thru Friday, up through the day before the election and cast a ballot.

If you have questions concerning this or other elections, contact the office of Cass County Auditor/Election Commissioner (Phone: 712-243-4570)

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education, Wednesday evening, approved the tentative, 2016-17 Non-Certified staff, contract agreement. Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein said non-certified staff include para-professionals, secretaries, bus drivers, food service workers, custodians, and anyone who is not required to be endorsed or licensed in the State.

Amstein says they settled on a total package of 3.162-percent, or, a 33-cent per hour wage increase, which amounts to about $86,000. He said the non-certified group ratified the agreement on Tuesday.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board approved the hiring of Justin Williams, as Head Freshman Baseball Coach. They also heard presentations with regard to the district’s Home/School Program and English Language Learner (ELL) Program. They also heard from Schuler Principal James Northwick and the Lindamood-Bell program coordinators, with regard to the Spring 2016 Iowa Assessments.

And, Amstein said the school board continued with discussions pertaining to the possibility of having a Special Election Sept. 13^th with regard to a Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) income surtax. He says they’ve estimated that if the PPEL surtax had been approved last year, the property tax asking could have been reduced about 62-cents per thousand dollars valuation.