Iowa House speaker rips university over cuts to scholarships

A day after the University of Iowa began notifying 2,440 students they won’t get scholarship money they expected this fall because of state budget cuts, Iowa House Speaker Linda Upmeyer slammed the move Thursday as “politics at its worst.”

She suggested the university tap into the $2 billion its foundation collected in a fundraising campaign, instead.

“It’s very disappointing that the University of Iowa is choosing to play politics with scholarships and the lives of parents and students,” Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, said in a statement.

On Wednesday, university President Bruce Harreld told lawmakers his institution is cutting several non-merit and non-need-based scholarship programs in response to an $8 million takeback in state appropriations in the current budget year.

Read more: http://qctimes.com/news/local/government-and-politics/iowa-house-speaker-rips-university-over-cuts/article_ec53d49b-f786-536c-abbd-833d27e37edb.html