Posted at: 09/12/2012 3:41 PM

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Iowa Regents to Seek $40M Financial Aid Program

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - The Iowa Board of Regents is asking lawmakers to create a $40 million per-year program to provide financial aid to low-income students as part of a plan to eliminate tuition dollars used for that purpose.
    
The regents Wednesday discussed recommendations from a committee charged with eliminating a practice of setting aside 15 percent of tuition revenue for financial aid. The practice, known as tuition set-aside, came under fire for forcing middle-class students to subsidize their classmates with financial aid and merit scholarships.
    
The plan discussed by the regents would call on the university's foundations to raise money for merit-based scholarships, and state legislators to pony up $39.5 million for roughly 14,000 low-income students.
    
The plan calls for regents to reduce tuition for students in 2014 by the amount lawmakers approve.

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