A bill for an act providing for a waiver of undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees and a stipend at regents institutions for Iowa residents who receive the maximum score on certain standardized tests.

2025-2026 Regular Session

Provides full undergraduate tuition, fees waiver, and a $5,000/semester stipend for Iowa residents who achieve the maximum score on ACT, SAT, or CLT, with progress requirements.

Referred to Higher Education.

#collegesanduniversities #regentsboard #tuition

Summary of HF 577 (2025)

HF 577 is a bill proposed in the Iowa General Assembly that would require the Regents institutions to provide a full tuition and mandatory fees waiver plus a stipend to Iowa residents who achieve the highest possible score on certain standardized tests. The bill was introduced on February 24, 2025 and referred to the Committee on Higher Education.

Purpose and key intent

Create a program to reward Iowa residents who attain the maximum score on a college readiness test.

Provide complete undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees waiver at Regents institutions for those students.

Add a $5,000 per semester stipend to eligible students, contingent on meeting academic progress toward graduation.

What the bill would do

Amends Section 262.9 of Code 2025 to add a new subsection directing the Board of Regents to:

Waive undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees for Iowa residents who achieve the maximum possible score on:
ACT (maximum score: 36),
SAT (maximum score: 1600),
CLT (maximum score: 120) developed by Classic Learning Initiatives.
Provide a stipend of $5,000 per semester to qualifying students.
Require the Board to verify scores via documentation to qualify.
Ensure students maintain “satisfactory academic progress toward graduation” to continue receiving the waiver and stipend, with the Board able to establish progress standards.

Eligibility and requirements

Eligibility: Iowa resident who achieves the maximum score on one of the specified tests.

Documentation: Board of Regents may require score documentation.

Continuing eligibility: Students must maintain satisfactory academic progress toward graduation as defined or established by the Regents.

Institutions affected: All Regent-supported institutions governed by the Board of Regents (state universities under the Regents system).

Financial impact (as estimated by the Fiscal Note)

The fiscal note presents a pathway assuming full enrollment of 24 students by FY 2029.

Estimated total program cost at full enrollment: approximately $509,000 to $550,000.

Reduced tuition revenue: about $269,000 to $310,000.
Stipend costs: about $240,000.

Interim years project smaller impacts, with a range of lost tuition and stipend costs varying by year (illustrative figures provided in the fiscal note).

Implementation timeline and procedural notes

Introduction date: February 24, 2025.

Fiscal note released: March 10, 2025.

Referred to: Higher Education (April 3, 2025).

The text indicates the measure would become effective upon passage and would require Regents institutions to implement the waiver and stipend program and establish any needed progress standards.

Why this matters

This bill creates a new merit-based pathway tied specifically to top test scores, subsidized by the state through tuition waivers and stipends.

It aims to attract and retain high-achieving Iowa students at state Regent universities, potentially influencing access, state investment, and competition with merit-based scholarship programs at Regents institutions.