HF 2226 Iowa House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

A bill for an act relating to the bachelor of science in nursing program at the university of Iowa, including priority for admission and reporting requirements.

HF 2226 requires the University of Iowa's Bachelor of Science in Nursing program to accept at least 80% of students who graduated from Iowa high schools. It mandates admission priority for these Iowa high school graduates and requires applicants to state whether they graduated from an Iowa high school or plan to work in Iowa after graduation. The university must submit annual reports to Iowa lawmakers showing acceptance rates for Iowa applicants and brief reasons for denials (while keeping personal data confidential under federal privacy laws). This bill directly affects nursing program applicants and the University of Iowa's admissions process.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 30, 2026 Last action Mar 11, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Reprinted · 4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was reprinted after being amended by the House, resulting in significant changes to the admission policy timeline and percentage thresholds. The most notable change is the reduction of the residency requirement from 80% to 70% of admitted students, with a delayed implementation date. The bill also added specific deadlines for policy adoption and streamlined the formatting of the attestation requirements.
Scope change
The scope of the bill remains focused on the bachelor of science in nursing program at the University of Iowa, but the implementation timeline and percentage thresholds have been modified to allow for a phased approach to the residency requirement.
REQUIREMENT

The residency requirement for admitted students was reduced from 80% to 70% of students accepted into the nursing program.

The attestation requirements for applicants were consolidated into a single subsection with clearer formatting, though the substantive content of the three attestation options remained the same.

TIMELINE

Added a specific deadline requiring the state board of regents to adopt the new policy by December 31, 2026, with the 70% requirement beginning with the fall 2027 semester.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was reprinted with updated formatting, including new page headers, revised line numbers, and updated committee identification information.

Floor votes · House Feb 24, 2026

How they voted

6228
Passed · 9 other
Total votes 99
Feb 24, 2026
D Democratic32
2 Yea 27 Nay 3
84% Nay
R Republican67
60 Yea 1 Nay 6
89% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
13
Key actions
6
Committee
4
Amendments
2
Mar 11, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Subcommittee recommends passage.
legislature
Mar 10, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Subcommittee Meeting: 03/11/2026 12:00PM Senate Lounge.
legislature
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Subcommittee reassigned: Evans, Donahue, and Pike.
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Upper · Passed
Subcommittee: Sinclair, Donahue, and Pike.
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House, yeas 62, nays 29.
lower
Feb 24, 2026
Lower · Passed
Amendment H-8002 adopted.
lower
Feb 4, 2026
Introduced
Amendment H-8002 filed.
lower
Jan 30, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, placed on calendar.
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.