excellence
IowaWatch picks up four Iowa Broadcast News Association awards for its reporting
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Four IowaWatch reports have collected awards — two of them for first place — for large market radio reporting during 2019.
affordable college
Growing Costs At Iowa’s Colleges, Universities Put Focus On Financial Aid
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The projected sticker price for Iowans wanting to attend a private college or university in-state will exceed $60,000 annually by 2024-25 at nine private Iowa schools and 10 the following school year in 2025-26, The Hechinger Report projected after studying tuition and cost-of-living trends for higher education institutions nationwide via Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) data. Our report includes a podcast.
higher education
Discounted Tuitions Seen As Missing Their Mark — Low-Income, Underrepresented Students
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While rising education costs and growth in amenities and luxury housing have played a role in pressing up the cost of attendance — also called a university’s “sticker price” — a great deal of college tuition inflation has been driven by an enrollment strategy to dole out more institutional aid to a growing number of students. The practice is also known as price-discrimination, and two Iowa educators have a study showing it can discriminate against low-income, underrepresented minorities.
higher education costs
Iowa College Students Tell You How They Learn Stuff While Not Buying Textbooks
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Plenty of college students avoid spending a lot on textbooks that can cost from around $20 for a book on writing grant proposals to $400 for a physics book, a spring IowaWatch/College Media Journalism Project revealed. They talk about it in this podcast.
Textbook Squeeze
Bookstore Works On Way To Make College Textbooks Affordable
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Heather Dean’s passion for accessible textbooks stems from her time as a student at Iowa State University, where one textbook can run as high as $347.
Second in a series.
Textbook Squeeze
College Textbook Costs, In Their Words: Cody West, Iowa State University
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Q: What did you spend on textbooks this semester? Cody West: This semester, I spent $74.50 for one English textbook and it appears about $270 in course delivery fees… I also had a $81.49 textbook. Cody West, 21
Iowa State University
Spring 2018 senior
Hometown: Altoona, Iowa
Major: Biology
Q: Most expensive book:
West: Oh goodness. I want to say that my freshman year my biology book with the access code to do my biology homework was about $220. Q: How often do you use your textbooks?
Education
College Textbook Costs, In Their Words: Clarice Kies, Loras College
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Q: How much did you spend for all of your textbooks? Clarice Kies: I only had to purchase hard copy books. I think that the total was like, $179 for this semester. Clarice Kies, 22
Loras College
Spring 2018 graduating senior
Hometown: LaMotte, Iowa
Major: English
Q: Which was the most expensive. Kies: That would probably be my grant-writing book, or Proposal Writing, which was about $21.
College Textbook Costs, In Their Words: Lucas Smith, William Penn University
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Q: How much did you pay for all textbooks, hard copy and e-textbooks, this semester? Lucas Smith: I paid $350 for all my books. Lucas Smith, 21
Spring 2018 senior
William Penn University
Hometown: Sully, Iowa
Major: Sports and Recreation management
Q: What was your most expensive book, and how much did it cost? The most expensive book was Sports Law and I believe it cost around $200. Q: How often do you use your textbooks?
Buena Vista University
College Textbook Costs, In Their Words: Susan Letsch, Buena Vista University
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Q: How much did you pay for all textbooks, hard copy and e-textbooks, this semester? We need actual costs, not guesses or vague statements, such as “a lot.”
Susan Letsch: This semester I’ve spent an estimated $250 on textbooks. Susan Letsch, 21
Buena Vista University
Spring 2018 junior
Hometown: Le Mars, Iowa
Major: Social Work and Criminal Justice
A: What was your most expensive book, and how much did it cost? Letsch: Most of the books I rented this year, but my most expensive book would probably be my brand new, um, art book. And that was more than $100 itself.
Education
College Textbook Costs, In Their Words: Sarah Timmerman, University of Northern Iowa
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Q: How much did you pay for all textbooks, hardcopy and e-textbooks, this semester
Sarah Timmerman: For the fall semester, I paid $125 and then for the spring, I paid $80. Together, that’s $205 for this entire year. Sarah Timmerman, 20
University of Northern Iowa
Spring 2018 sophomore
Hometown: Clive, Iowa
Major: Elementary Education, special education minor
Q: What was your most expensive book? Timmerman: My most expensive books were for Russia/the Soviet Union. They were each about $35.