HF 867 (LSB 2127HV (1) 91)

HOUSE FILE 867

BY  COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 62)

A BILL FOR

An Act requiring that a portion of funds for the Iowa tuition grant be awarded to students pursuing majors leading to high-wage and high-demand jobs and including effective date provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 84A.1B, Code 2025, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  18.  Create, in collaboration with the Iowa association of independent colleges and universities, a list of high-wage and high-demand jobs and corresponding academic majors offered by accredited private institutions as defined in section 256.183 for purposes of the Iowa tuition grant program established under chapter 256, subchapter VII, part 4, subpart B. The workforce development board, in collaboration with the Iowa association of independent colleges and universities, shall update the list at least once every two years. In creating a list under this subsection, the following criteria, at a minimum, apply:
   a.  An entry-level annual salary of not less than forty thousand dollars.
   b.  Educational attainment of a qualifying credential of at least a bachelor’s degree, or attainment of an initial or intern Iowa teaching license issued under chapter 256 through a pathway to licensure offered by an accredited private institution as defined in section 256.183.
   c.  At least one of any of the following:
   (1)  Projected annual job openings of at least two hundred fifty during the next five years.
   (2)  Projected annual growth in the number of job openings of at least one percent.
    Sec. 2.  Section 256.189, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  d.  Award no less than fifty percent of the funds available for the tuition grant program each fiscal year to students pursuing majors that correspond to high-wage and high-demand jobs included in the list of such jobs created by the workforce development board pursuant to section 84A.1B, subsection 18.
    Sec. 3.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  The following, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment:
   The section of this Act enacting section 84A.1B, subsection 18.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill requires the college student aid commission to award no less than 50 percent of the funds available for Iowa tuition grants each fiscal year to students pursuing majors that correspond to high-wage and high-demand jobs.
   The bill requires the workforce development board, in collaboration with the Iowa association of independent colleges and universities, to create a list of high-wage and high-demand jobs for this purpose and establishes criteria for the list. The provision requiring the workforce development board to create the list takes effect upon enactment.