A recent study that rated Iowa State unaffordable for low-income dependent students has come under scrutiny by both national and ISU education officials.

With a 19.4 percent tuition increase on the horizon and a university-wide budget shortfall, the question of whether Iowa State is affordable for high school graduates has taken center stage.

And a study released this month by the Lumina Foundation rating Iowa State “unaffordable” for low-income dependent students hasn’t helped take any focus away from the issue.

The Lumina Foundation is an Indianapolis-based nonprofit organization that conducts research on student aid issues. Its study, which compiled data from more than 2,800 colleges nationwide, “was aimed at determining whether or not where you live . factored into going to college,” said Sara Murray-Plumer, director of communications for the foundation.

Iowa State was rated “unaffordable” for low-income dependent students.

But the study found Iowa State “affordable with loans” for median-income dependent, low-income independent and median-income independent students.

These findings have come under scrutiny in the past week. The Lumina Foundation made errors in its assessments of 111 universities nationwide, according to an article in Jan. 24 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The study falsely rated the University of Iowa, changing its rating of “affordable with loans” for low-income dependent students to “unaffordable.” The foundation also changed its rating of “affordable” for median-income dependent students to “affordable with loans.”

Lumina researchers obtained their data from the Department of Education and the National College Board, Murray-Plumer said.

“Institutions submit information to those two groups,” she said.

This source of data taints the credibility of the Lumina study, said Earl Dowling, ISU director of financial aid.

“The unfortunate part about the Lumina study is that the researchers were not using actual data but using aggregate national data compiled by someone else,” he said. “They labeled universities without talking to students or doing on-campus research.”

The study failed to take into account all financial aid available to students, such as Perkins loans, Dowling said.

“Almost every university that has commented on the Lumina Foundation study has disregarded it,” he said.

The study assessed admissibility – how selective a college is on an academic level – and affordability – the price of attending the college in relation to the financial resources of students, Murray-Plumer said.

Ultimately, she said, the foundation combined these two factors to generate the accessibility of the college. A college was `unaffordable’ if combined funds from financial aid packages and family contributions fell short of more than $500 in covering tuition, room and board, travel fees and other college expenses, Murray-Plumer said.