Senate File 2029 - Introduced SENATE FILE 2029 BY BOLKCOM A BILL FOR An Act directing the state board of regents and the 1 department of education to convene a commission to study 2 financing strategies for the state’s public postsecondary 3 institutions. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 5208XS (6) 85 kh/sc

S.F. 2029 Section 1. STUDY OF FINANCING STRATEGIES FOR PUBLIC 1 POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTIONS. 2 1. The state board of regents and the department 3 of education shall convene a commission consisting of 4 representatives of the community colleges and the institutions 5 of higher education governed by the board to study financing 6 strategies, as described in this section, for the state’s 7 public postsecondary institutions. 8 2. a. The commission shall study the feasibility of 9 establishing the alternative payment pilot program described 10 in paragraph “b” to replace the current system of charging 11 students tuition and fees for enrollment at public institutions 12 of higher learning. The commission shall, at a minimum, review 13 the following: 14 (1) Potential short-term and long-term funding sources for 15 the pilot program. 16 (2) The manner and extent to which a student who withdraws 17 from the participating institution will pay for the education 18 credits earned. 19 (3) The maximum number of years a student may be enrolled in 20 the participating institution under the pilot program. 21 (4) The rate of payment by students necessary to sustain the 22 pilot program. 23 (5) Deferment of payment or a reduced rate of payment for 24 students who after graduation are unemployed or underemployed. 25 (6) How the state or the participating institution may fund 26 the pilot program’s implementation. 27 (7) How the state or the participating institution may 28 collect accurate income data on students who move out of state. 29 (8) How the state or the participating institution may 30 collect and enforce payments from students. 31 (9) How the pilot program may account for and apply to 32 part-time students, transfer students, mid-career students, and 33 other nontraditional students. 34 (10) How the pilot program may function with federal and 35 -1- LSB 5208XS (6) 85 kh/sc 1/ 5

S.F. 2029 state financial aid programs. 1 (11) The provisions or services that may be provided to 2 low-income students under the pilot program. 3 (12) Whether participation in the pilot program should be 4 limited to specific academic programs, such as programs that 5 lead to employment in workforce shortage areas. 6 (13) The “pay forward, pay back” pilot program considered by 7 the Oregon higher education coordinating commission. 8 b. If the commission determines that a pilot program is 9 warranted, the commission shall identify one or more public 10 institutions of higher education to participate in the pilot 11 program and shall submit the proposed pilot program in the 12 report required under subsection 4. 13 (1) The proposed pilot program submitted by the commission 14 shall do the following: 15 (a) Allow students who are residents of this state, as 16 defined by the participating institution, and who qualify for 17 admission to the participating institution to enroll in the 18 participating institution without paying tuition or fees. 19 (b) Provide that, in lieu of paying tuition or fees, 20 students must sign binding contracts to, upon graduation from 21 the participating institution, pay to the state of Iowa or the 22 participating institution a certain percentage of the student’s 23 annual adjusted gross income for a specified number of years. 24 (c) Specify the methodology by which the number of years and 25 the percentage of annual adjusted gross income for contracts 26 shall be determined and base the specifications on research to 27 date. 28 (d) Establish an immediate funding source for the first 15 29 to 20 years of the pilot program and include the establishment 30 of a revolving fund to deposit payments made under the pilot 31 program. 32 (2) The proposed pilot program submitted by the commission, 33 and the contracts entered into under the program, may vary by 34 institution depending on factors which include but are not 35 -2- LSB 5208XS (6) 85 kh/sc 2/ 5

S.F. 2029 limited to the following: 1 (a) The total cost of education at the participating 2 institution. 3 (b) The portion of the cost of education that is paid by 4 appropriations of funds from the state of Iowa. 5 3. The commission shall also conduct a study of whether 6 the state’s public postsecondary institutions can successfully 7 implement a tuition freeze that will guarantee incoming 8 undergraduate students the same tuition rate for four years. 9 The study must include an analysis of: 10 a. The western tuition promise program offered by western 11 Oregon university. 12 b. The finish in four program proposed in Florida, and 13 similar programs. 14 c. Options for mitigating the financial strain that the 15 adoption of a tuition freeze would place on an institution’s 16 finances. 17 4. The commission shall submit its findings and 18 recommendations in a report to the state board of education, 19 the state board of regents, the governor, and the general 20 assembly by January 15, 2015. 21 EXPLANATION 22 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 23 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 24 This bill directs the state board of regents and the 25 department of education to convene a commission consisting of 26 representatives of the community colleges and the institutions 27 of higher education governed by the board to conduct two 28 studies regarding financing strategies related to payment of 29 tuition and fees at public postsecondary institutions. 30 The commission is directed to study the feasibility of 31 creating an alternative payment pilot program to replace the 32 current system of charging students tuition and fees for 33 enrollment at public institutions of higher learning. 34 With regard to the pilot program study, the commission is 35 -3- LSB 5208XS (6) 85 kh/sc 3/ 5

S.F. 2029 directed to, at a minimum, review issues relating to funding 1 sources for the pilot program, student payments under the 2 pilot program, the scope of the pilot program in regards 3 to participation of students and academic programs, data 4 collection under the pilot program, and the manner in which the 5 pilot program may function with federal and state financial 6 aid programs. The commission is also directed to review the 7 “pay forward, pay back” pilot program considered by the Oregon 8 education coordinating commission. 9 The proposed pilot program submitted by the commission 10 shall allow students who are residents of this state, and 11 who qualify for admission, to enroll in the participating 12 institution without paying tuition or fees; provided that, 13 in lieu of paying tuition or fees, students sign binding 14 contracts to pay to the state or the participating institution 15 a certain percentage of the student’s annual adjusted gross 16 income upon graduation from the participating institution 17 for a specified number of years. The pilot program is to 18 specify the methodology by which the number of years and the 19 percentage of annual adjusted gross income for contracts shall 20 be determined and base the specifications on research to date 21 and to establish an immediate funding source for the first 22 15 to 20 years of the pilot program, which is to include the 23 establishment of a revolving fund to deposit payments made 24 under the pilot program. 25 The proposed pilot program may vary by institution depending 26 on the total cost of education at the participating institution 27 and the portion of the cost that is paid by the state. 28 The commission is also directed to study the question of 29 whether the state’s public postsecondary institutions can 30 successfully implement a tuition freeze that will guarantee 31 that incoming undergraduate students have the same tuition 32 rate for four years. The study must include an analysis of a 33 tuition promise program offered by western Oregon university, 34 the finish in four program proposed in Florida and similar 35 -4- LSB 5208XS (6) 85 kh/sc 4/ 5

S.F. 2029 programs, and ways of mitigating the financial strain that the 1 adoption of a tuition freeze would place on an institution’s 2 finances. 3 The commission must submit its findings and recommendations 4 in a report to the state board of education, the state board of 5 regents, the governor, and the general assembly by January 15, 6 2015. 7 -5- LSB 5208XS (6) 85 kh/sc 5/ 5