The University of Iowa announced Tuesday it will close the Iowa Center for Higher Education in Des Moines by the end of 2018 and sell the 20-acre campus property. The center on the former AIB College of Business campus is one of seven centers the university announced will be closed as a budget-cutting move that will furlough 33 employees, including six in Des Moines. However, the programs at the Des Moines campus will continue to be offered at the John and Mary Pappajohn Center downtown and online.

The other programs that will be closed include:

– University of Iowa Center on Aging

– Confucius Institute

– Iowa Center for Assistive Technology Education and Research (I-CATER)

– Labor Center

– Office of Iowa Practice Opportunities

– UI Mobile Museum

The university also will reduce funding for a handful of other centers, including the DeLTA Center, Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH), and Iowa Supports Education and Resources for Veterans and Enlisted (I-SERVE).

The University of Iowa received the 20-acre campus as a gift from AIB College of Business after it closed, and under the terms of that agreement, when UI sells it, the proceeds must be used to fund scholarships for Central Iowa students.

Each of the three degree programs offered at the Center for Higher Education will move to the Pappajohn Higher Education Center in January, said Tom Rice, the center’s director. Currently, about 140 students are enrolled in undergraduate programs at the Des Moines satellite campus, which the university began operating in the fall of 2016.  

“[The decision to close the campus] was strictly a real estate decision — and I think a very good business decision,” Rice said. “It became clear that this campus was much larger than what we needed to meet our education mission. This will free up a lot of costs for education. … In some ways, I think this will help the university to more creatively think about how it offers programs in Des Moines.”

The Iowa Board of Regents in October 2015 approved AIB’s donation of the property to the University of Iowa, with the intent for it to be operated as a joint regents campus. However, no programs were launched by either Iowa State University or University of Northern Iowa there.

Rice said the six Des Moines employees who will be furloughed are maintenance and office staff at the campus. No faculty will be furloughed.

The Pappajohn Center located downtown is about two-thirds full and has room for the undergraduate programs, Rice said. It has been owned by UI since 2008.

At the center, the university offers degree programs in social work, enterprise leadership, political science, and a bachelor of science in sport and recreation management. The majority of the students are enrolled in the social work program, which has been offered in Des Moines for about 50 years.

Read the university’s release here.