A bill for an act providing for public availability of certain financial information of regents institutions and including effective date provisions.

HF 296, the "College Finance Transparency Act," requires Iowa's public universities under the State Board of Regents to publicly post detailed financial data online. It mandates that institutions disclose budgets, expenditures, vendors, and contracts exceeding $50,000, including annual departmental budgets, salary reports, and spending on diversity/inclusion initiatives. The information must be searchable, accessible without login, updated regularly, and retained online for 10 years, with a homepage link requiring no more than three clicks. The bill takes effect December 1, 2025, and excludes legally protected information from public posting. It directly affects all regents-controlled institutions of higher education in Iowa.