Bills › 91st General Assembly
Relating to the bachelor of science in nursing program at the university of Iowa, including priority for admission and reporting requirements
Topics:Health careHigher education
Same legislation: HF 2226
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedJanuary 13, 2026
- Done: SubcommitteeJanuary 13, 2026
- Done: House committeeJanuary 28, 2026
- Skipped: Passes the HouseContinued as HF 2226
- Next: Senate committee
- Next: Passes the Senate
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Became HF 2226 → Its progress continues under the new number. Go to HF 2226 What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
AI summary The state board of regents must create a policy to ensure a certain percentage of students accepted into the University of Iowa's nursing program are Iowa residents who graduated from an Iowa high school. These residents will also receive priority during the admissions process. Additionally, the university must send a yearly report to the state legislature showing how many Iowa residents applied, how many were accepted, and why others were turned away.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 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.
Changed since by amendment H-8002; see Amendments.
House subcommittee
Named January 13, 2026. On January 22, 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 2031.3
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
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