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Read. Follow. Verify.Iowa Senate prohibits courts from ordering postsecondary education subsidies in divorce decrees
Last action · May 6, 2025: Signed by Governor . S.J. 943 .Sponsor: Jesse Green
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What This Bill Does
Iowa courts are prohibited from ordering divorcing parties to pay a for a child, effective for orders entered or pending on or after July 1, 2025. Orders entered before that date requiring a subsidy cannot be modified based on this new law.
Divorcing parents in Iowa are no longer legally required by court order to fund their adult children's college or career training expenses, shifting potential financial responsibilities entirely to the individuals or other means.
- Under prior Iowa law, courts had the authority to order divorcing parents to contribute to the higher education expenses of children between the ages of 18 and 22 under specific conditions. context
Who It Affects
Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Divorcing parents
Parents undergoing a dissolution of marriage can no longer be legally mandated by a court to provide financial support for a child's postsecondary education.
College-age children of divorced parents
Children aged eighteen through twenty-two are no longer eligible to receive court-ordered postsecondary education subsidies funded by divorcing parents.
Key Facts
- Courts are prohibited from ordering either party to pay a postsecondary education subsidy under any temporary order or final judgment or decree of divorce.
- The new restriction applies to support orders, decrees, or judgments entered or pending on or after July 1, 2025.
- Orders, decrees, or judgments entered before July 1, 2025, that provide for a postsecondary education subsidy cannot be modified based on this Act.
- Code references related to contempt proceedings and stepparent adoptions are updated to strike references to the postsecondary education subsidy provisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a judge still order my ex-spouse to pay for our child's college tuition?
Does this law cancel existing college subsidy orders from past divorces?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Current status: Signed into law.
Procedural history
23 actions- May 6, 2025SenateEnrolledSigned by Governor . S.J. 943 .
- May 6, 2025SenateReported correctly enrolled, signed by President and Speaker, and sent to Governor. S.J. 942 .
- Apr 22, 2025HouseMessage from House. S.J. 846 .
- Apr 21, 2025HouseImmediate message. H.J. 1010 .
- Apr 21, 2025HouseFloorPassed House , yeas 85, nays 6. H.J. 1009 .
- Apr 10, 2025HousePlaced on calendar under unfinished business. H.J. 928 .
Show 17 earlier actions
- Apr 2, 2025HousePlaced on calendar. H.J. 886 .
- Apr 1, 2025HouseCommittee vote: Yeas, 21. Nays. 0. H.J. 886 .
- Apr 1, 2025HouseCommittee report, recommending passage. H.J. 886 .
- Apr 1, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Mar 27, 2025HouseSubcommittee Meeting: 04/01/2025 8:00AM House Lounge 2.
- Mar 25, 2025HouseSubcommittee: Holt, Wessel-Kroeschell and Wheeler. H.J. 813 .
- Mar 19, 2025HouseIntroducedRead first time, referred to Judiciary. H.J. 750 .
- Mar 19, 2025HouseMessage from Senate. H.J. 723 .
- Mar 19, 2025SenateImmediate message. S.J. 581 .
- Mar 19, 2025SenateFloorPassed Senate , yeas 43, nays 4. S.J. 579 .
- Mar 5, 2025SenateCommittee report, approving bill. S.J. 424 .
- Mar 5, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 417 .
- Mar 5, 2025SenateCommittee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 513 . S.J. 424 .
- Feb 25, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Feb 20, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 02/24/2025 3:30PM Room 217 Conference Room.
- Feb 11, 2025SenateSubcommittee: Green, Quirmbach, and Webster. S.J. 244 .
- Feb 10, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Judiciary. S.J. 216 .
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Elimination of Mandatory Higher Education Support in Divorce
The bill completely removes judicial authority to mandate parental funding for adult children's postsecondary education during dissolution of marriage proceedings.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.iowa.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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