Relating to the bachelor of science in nursing program at the university of Iowa, including priority for admission and reporting requirements

Sponsored by the House Higher Education Committee

Topics:Health care Higher education

Same legislation: HSB 530

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Official bill page Lobbyist declarations One-pager to print

Where it is now

Done: IntroducedJanuary 13, 2026
Done: SubcommitteeJanuary 13, 2026
Done: House committeeJanuary 28, 2026
Done: Passes the HouseFebruary 24, 202662–29
Stopped: Senate committeeDied when the General Assembly ended
Next: Passes the Senate
Next: To the Governor
Next: Signed into law

Died when the session ended The 2026 session adjourned on May 3, 2026, the General Assembly’s last regular session. Bills that didn’t pass both chambers died. What’s a funnel?

What’s in it

AI summary The state board of regents would require that at least 80 percent of students accepted into the University of Iowa's nursing program be Iowa residents who graduated from an Iowa high school. These students would also receive priority when applying for the program. Additionally, the university must send a yearly report to the state legislature showing how many Iowa residents were accepted or denied entry and why.¹

Read the official explanation

This bill relates to the bachelor of science in nursing program at the university of Iowa college of nursing, including priority for admission and reporting requirements. The bill requires the state board of regents to adopt a policy providing that not less than 80 percent of students accepted into the bachelor of science in nursing program be residents of Iowa. The bill defines “resident of Iowa” as an individual who graduated from an Iowa high school. The bill further requires that the board of regents adopt a policy giving priority for admission to residents of Iowa who apply to the bachelor of science in nursing program, and a policy requiring an application for admission to the bachelor of science in nursing program include an applicant attestation. The bill requires the university of Iowa to submit an annual report to the general assembly containing, for the immediately preceding calendar year, the number of applicants who are residents of Iowa who were accepted to the bachelor of science in nursing program and the number of applicants who are residents of Iowa who were not accepted, including a brief statement related to why each applicant was denied.

Why it matters. The state board of regents would require the University of Iowa College of Nursing to prioritize and ensure at least 70 percent of students accepted into its nursing program are Iowa residents who graduated from an Iowa high school. The University of Iowa would also need to submit an annual report to the general assembly detailing how many Iowa resident applicants were accepted or denied. This change is estimated to decrease revenues to the University of Iowa College of Nursing by $683,231 in fiscal year 2028, $997,557 in fiscal year 2029, $1,293,881 in fiscal year 2030, and $1,289,253 in fiscal year 2031.²

Changed since by amendment H-8002; see Amendments.

Full bill text³

Senate subcommittee

Named March 9, 2026. On March 11, 2026 it recommended passage.

Three legislators hear a bill first and recommend what the committee should do; it’s the best time to weigh in. How to take part

1 written public comment to its subcommittee: March 11, 2026 (1) · on the Legislature’s site

Fiscal note

AI summary This bill requires the University of Iowa College of Nursing to adopt a policy ensuring at least 70.0% of students admitted to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program are Iowa residents or former Iowa students. This change is estimated to decrease revenues to the University of Iowa College of Nursing by $683,231 in fiscal year 2028, $997,557 in fiscal year 2029, $1,293,881 in fiscal year 2030, and $1,289,253 in fiscal year 2031.⁴

Read the fiscal note

Description

House File 2226 requires the Board of Regents (BOR) to adopt a policy, not later than December 31, 2026, that requires no less than 70.0% of students admitted to the University of Iowa (SUI) College of Nursing to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) to be Iowa residents or individuals who were enrolled at an Iowa postsecondary institution prior to application, beginning with the Fall 2027 semester. All applications for admission to the College of Nursing are required to attest to their residency status.

House File 2226 requires the SUI to submit an annual report to the General Assembly regarding the residency and acceptance rates of applicants to the College of Nursing in the preceding calendar year.

Background

The SUI College of Nursing is one of the State’s primary public nursing programs and admits students through multiple pathways, including direct admission and admission after the first year of undergraduate study. Current admissions practices do not require a fixed residency percentage.

The College of Nursing directly admitted 87 students in the Fall 2025 cohort and estimates an additional 94 students in the nursing interest cohort will be accepted in their second or third year. The College of Nursing had a total of 671 students enrolled in the Fall of 2025. The BOR votes on the following academic year’s tuition rate increases in June of each year. An example of the proposed 2025-2026 tuition and mandatory fees is on the BOR website.

Assumptions

The residency requirement will first apply to the Fall 2027 cohort (FY 2028).
The number of total students and the residency ratio of the current law admissions is expected to remain constant compared to Fall 2025.
Each cohort is assumed to lose 5.0% of the student count in each succeeding year.
Of the 671 students enrolled in the College of Nursing during Fall 2025, 61.3% were Iowa residents and 38.7% were nonresidents.
The FY 2026 nonresident tuition for the College of Nursing is $36,527 per year, compared to $15,243 for resident students.
Tuition is estimated to increase by 1.7% per year for nonresident and 4.2% for resident students. This increase is based on the average increase per year over the prior five academic years.
Nonresident students will decrease from 38.7% to 30.0% of annual admissions over four years.
Calculations do not account for the presence of any grants, scholarships, or otherwise discounted tuition rates.

Fiscal Impact

House File 2226 is estimated to decrease revenues to the SUI College of Nursing by $683,000 in FY 2028, $998,000 in FY 2029, $1.3 million in FY 2030, and $1.3 million in FY 2031. Figure 1 shows estimated tuition revenue decreases by fiscal year.

Figure 1 — Decreased Annual Tuition Revenue

Year Resident Nonresident Difference

Students

Impacted Total Impact

FY 2028 16,546 38,796 -22,250 31 -683,231 FY 2029 17,238 39,446 -22,208 45 -997,557 FY 2030 17,959 40,108 -22,148 58 -1,293,881 FY 2031 18,711 40,780 -22,069 58 -1,289,253

Sources

Board of Regents
University of Iowa
LSA calculations

Nursing School Admissions, Residency Requirements · March 2, 2026
Nursing School Admissions, Residency Requirements · February 9, 2026

Reading a fiscal note⁵

Iowa Code it changes

Amends§262.9

How the Code works⁶

Lobbying

2 for · 2 against · 11 undecided · Who →

Family tree

Study bill

HSB 530Renumbered

91st General Assembly

HF 2226Passed a chamberfrom HSB 530

Notes

The summary is written by an AI model from the official explanation. It can miss details; the explanation and the bill are what count. ↩
Written by an AI model from the official explanation and fiscal note only, for bills that passed a chamber, drew heavy lobbying or carry a large cost. It doesn’t weigh whether the bill is a good idea. ↩
The explanation is printed with the bill as introduced and written by the Legislative Services Agency, the Legislature’s nonpartisan staff. ↩
Written by an AI model from the newest fiscal note. It can miss details; the note itself is what counts. ↩
Fiscal notes are nonpartisan cost estimates from the Legislative Services Agency’s Fiscal Services Division. The newest is listed first. ↩
Code sections are read from the bill as introduced. Each links to every bill touching that chapter of the Iowa Code. ↩