State:
July 1, 2026, marks the beginning of the state’s fiscal year, and the default date for laws passed during the 2026 legislative session to go into effect (unless specified otherwise). Below is a list of some of the laws that are going into effect.
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Last Dollar Scholarship Updates (SF 2168): This year the association successfully expanded the Last Dollar Scholarship program to increase eligibility for students pursuing an education in a high-demand field. The Department of Education will now set the SAI instead of being fixed at $20,000, mirroring the process for other scholarship programs. This year the SAI for the Last Dollar Scholarship is $30,000! Additionally, the list of high-demand fields eligible for the program will be updated every three years by Iowa Workforce Development in collaboration with community colleges. Lastly, to qualify as a high-demand field for purposes of the list, jobs will no longer need a $14 minimum wage but will instead need a “competitive wage” in that field. These changes are an investment in Iowa’s students, and will ensure our workforce remains competitive, responsive to industry needs, and inclusive of more students.
Affirmative Action Policies (HF 2711): Moving forward, Iowa state agencies (including the departments of Administrative Services and Education), school districts, community colleges, board of regents, and licensing boards are no longer required to enact affirmative action policies and programs, or to report on such policies and programs. There remain other federal and state civil rights requirements of equal access and equal opportunity for these entities.
Open Meeting, Notice Requirements (HF 2490): Governmental bodies are now required to designate a location where notices of meetings will be physically posted, and this location must be reasonably accessible to the public and visible on a continuous basis. Notice must also be posted on the bodies website if it maintains one. Additionally, direct notice must be provided to any news media representatives who have filed a formal request for such. Lastly, if an agenda is modified after initial publication, the newly amended agenda must clearly identify that it is amended and indicate the changes made.
260E Reform (HF 2799): Final agreements entered into on or after today, July 1, 2026, are subject to the new limitations on the use of bond financing, timeframe for recovering program costs, administrative costs, categories of eligible expenditures, and reporting requirements. Specifically, the new program restrictions include:
- Shortening the bonding period from 10 years to seven years – decreasing available financing and impacting project planning and feasibility.
- Limiting bond proceeds to no more than seventy percent of the total calculated program costs associated with training expenses.
- Reducing community college administrative fees from 19.5% to 15%.
- Disallowing program costs associated with professional degrees, conferences, travel, and legal fees.
- Redefining “new job” to mean: a new, permanent, full-time equivalent position added to an employer's payroll, at the location of the employer's project, in excess of the employer's base employment level.
Meaning, community colleges will have to adjust their calculations and program planning when working with employers to create a training agreement under the 260E Industrial New Jobs Training Program.
Federal:
Accountability Rules Released: Earlier this week, on Monday June 29, the U.S. Department of Education released the final regulations establishing the new accountability framework/requirements that is based on previous program completers’ earnings. Similarly to some of Iowa’s recently passed laws, these regulations will take effect on July 1, 2026.
These regulations are very similar to the proposed ones in April. Bachelor's and associate degree holders must earn more than the median earnings of working adults aged 25-34 who only hold a high-school degree. While graduate degree holders must earn more than the median earnings of similarly aged adults who only hold a bachelor’s degree. Programs that fail this test in two of the past three years are considered “low-earning" and are no longer eligible for the Federal Direct Loan Program. Institutions can appeal the determination from the DE, but they must go through a two-year waiting period before seeking to reestablish eligibility.
There were updates to the so called “50-50 Rule” - where an institution may lose all Title IV eligibility (loans and grants) in “low earning” programs if more than 50% of its Title IV students or more than 50% of its Title IV funds go to such programs – allowing an institution to avoid this outcome if it stops offering Federal Direct Loans in a program before it is deemed a “low earning” program. Protecting some Pell Grant eligible programs at institution planning to continue offering them.
Senate Farm Bill: Last week, Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee released his proposal to reauthorize the Farm Bill – the governing legislation for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs. While the House passed its substantive reauthorization bill, the Food, Farm and National Security Act in May this year, the Senate’s text is very minimal in terms of new programs or changes to any current programs. As such, the Act is considered a “discussion draft” and provides the opportunity for additional advocacy to add in new support for community colleges during a markup.
Importantly, there exists the bipartisan Community College Agricultural Advancement Act (CCAAA) which would authorize $20 million for new capacity building grants for community college agriculture workforce development programs. This language was in previous iterations of the Farm Bill reauthorization proposals, and in the House passed Farm Bill, and is language that community colleges with agriculture or renewable resources programs should ask their senators to include, or a similar proposal, in the Senate’s Farm Bill.