The Iowa Senate passed two bills relating to community colleges and the Iowa College Student Aid Commission Monday, sending one to the governor’s desk and the other to the House.
House File 2153 would change reporting requirements for the Iowa College Student Aid Commission, or Iowa College Aid, including striking requirements for annual reports on certain tuition grants and student loan forgiveness programs. Sen. Jeff Taylor, R-Sioux Center, said the legislation would minimize the number of reports the commission must make for the programs it runs.
“The Department of Education would consolidate all reporting on all active student aid programs administered by the College Student Aid Commission, instead of having a different report for each program,” Taylor said.
It will head to the governor after unanimous passage in the Senate and House.
House File 2615 would require community colleges to publish a link to the Iowa Student Outcomes website on their sites and for school districts to provide high school juniors and seniors who have expressed an interest in postsecondary education with a report from the Iowa Board of Regents detailing graduate outcomes. Income and student loan debt of state university graduates, as well as information on the Iowa Student Outcomes site, would be included in the report.
An amendment adopted by the Senate ensured that schools are not required to provide hard copies of the board of regents report, just a link to it.
The legislation also makes college and career transition counselors exempt from the supplementary weighting received by school districts who share operational functions with community colleges or other organizations. It will head back to the House for consideration.
By: Brooklyn Draisey
