If you’ve ever wondered how the breakdown of a tuition dollar looks, the following chart gives a good representation of that. While not specific to tuition dollars, as they are co-mingled with state general university fund revenues, the chart shows what percentage of a dollar goes towards what expenditure by category at the universities.

Appropriations to the Regents have been a roller-coaster ride over the past 10 years. For FY12 they saw a decrease of $20 million from $542 million to $522 million. The Governor has recommended increasing that by $20 million, back to $542. The Regents have requested a $40 million increase. Here is a complete picture of the last 5 years with a snapshot of 10 years and 20 years ago.

FY93
508,918,122

FY03
588,881,227

FY08
662,938,101

FY09
677,339,929

FY10
562,988,400

FY11
542,035,205

FY12
522,035,206

Tuition and fees at the University of Iowa for 2011/12 is $7,765.
Tuition and fees at Iowa State University for 2011/12 is $7,486.
Tuition and fees at the University of Northern Iowa for 2011/12 is $7,350.