Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
While there are areas of higher education where Iowa is excelling, college is becoming less affordable for children and their families in the Hawkeye State, according to a report released Thursday.
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education’s biennial report, “Measuring Up,” shows that although Iowa is doing well in areas such as preparing its students for college it is failing at keeping higher education affordable.
According to the report:
Preparation: B
Iowa performs fairly well in preparing its young people for college, but there are large gaps by ethnicity.
- Eighth graders perform well in math, science, and reading, but their scores in writing are fairly low.
- Seventy-four percent of Hispanics have a high school credential, compared with 94% of whites.
Participation: A
Iowa does well in providing college opportunities for young and working-age adults.
- The state is a top performer in the percentage of working-age adults enrolled in higher education.
- However, 24% of Hispanic young adults are enrolled in college, compared with 42% of whites.
Affordability: F
Higher education has become less affordable for students and their families.
- Poor and working-class families must devote 40% of their income, even after aid, to pay for costs at two-year colleges.
- Financial aid to low-income students has declined. For every dollar in Pell Grant aid to students, the state spends only 33 cents-down from 40 cents in 1993.
Completion: A
Iowa performs very well in awarding certificates and degrees.
- Sixty-three percent of college students complete a bachelor’s degree within six years.
- However, 50% of Hispanics graduate within six years, compared with 65% of whites.
Benefits: C+
Only a fair proportion of residents have a bachelor’s degree, and this weakens the state economy.
- Eight percent of Hispanics have a bachelor’s degree, compared with 27% of whites.
- If all racial/ethnic groups had the same educational attainment and earnings as whites, total annual personal income in the state would be about $1 billion higher.
The state’s investment in need-based financial aid is very low when compared with top- performing states, and Iowa does not offer low-priced college opportunities, the report said.
California is the only state that did not receive a failing grade in affordability. Nationwide, the report found that college tuition and fees increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007 while median family income rose 147 percent. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade, and students from lower-income families, on average, get smaller grants from the colleges they attend than students from more affluent families.
In Iowa, the percent low-income families must pay to attend the state’s most affordable colleges is 30 percent, up from 16 percent in 1993.
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