A consultant to the Iowa Board of Regents said surveys of business leaders and workers and a data analysis showed downtown Des Moines is the best choice for a joint campus of the three state universities.

However, the campus of AIB College of Business and sites in the western suburbs weren’t far behind in the ratings, the consultants said.

The Iowa Board of Regents is expected to discuss the report by MGT of America Inc. at its June 9 meeting at the Iowa State University Alumni Center in Ames.

The firm surveyed business leaders and held focus groups with the help of the Greater Des Moines Partnership. It also analyzed census data, transportation patterns, demographics and parking.

There were considerable differences of opinion among Des Moines leaders. But the wide-ranging review led the Tallahassee, Fla.-based firm to suggest downtown would work best.

The discussion came after AIB College of Business decided to donate its Fleur Drive campus to the University of Iowa, which will take over operations there July 1 and launch classes beginning in the fall. The hastily arranged announcement of that donation caught many off guard, including administrators at Iowa State University, who had been considering options for ISU facilities in Des Moines beyond its offices and training center in Capital Square.

Publicly and privately, officials at Des Moines Area Community College, Mercy College of Health Sciences and Drake University grumbled at the suggestion that higher education wasn’t in the mix to a large degree in downtown or at least close by. But what was envisioned was a facility to offer the programs Greater Des Moines businesses want for prospective employees, from the regents schools: ISU, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa.

MGT suggested it is important to acknowledge the strengths of area private colleges and universities, and suggested planners avoid duplication even among the regents schools. The consultants said an existing school could even offer space for an interim campus, though that scenario wasn’t vetted. Another idea: holding classes at multiple sites, which is the case now.

In the aftermath of the announcement that the University of Iowa planned to run a satellite campus at AIB beginning July 1, the regents quickly made it clear that the facility would offer programs from all three regents schools. Then it launched the MGT America Inc. study to decide if, long-term, the AIB campus is the best place for the programs to be offered. Many business leaders said the AIB campus is inadequate and disconnected, and suggested the appropriate question is whether the joint campus should be in the western suburbs or downtown.

The campus could eventually have as many as 10,000 students, a fair number of them professionals working on added degrees or certifications.

Business leaders, educators and workers told MGT that programs needed at a Des Moines campus include a range of finance and computer science offerings, as well as classes for soil scientists, human resource specialists, middle school teachers and construction managers.

A visit by Bruce Katz of the Brookings Institution in which he suggested downtown needed a major research center added to the debate over a downtown location, and two sites seemed most popular — RiverPoint West south of Martin Luther King Parkway, and the parking lot north of Principal Financial Group’s complex and east of KCCI’s headquarters. The consultants appeared to avoid suggesting specific sites.