Iowa grant awards nearly $5 million for driver training

October 25, 2023

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Iowa’s commercial driver’s license infrastructure program has awarded $4,844,092 to 10 community colleges in the state for driver training facilities and equipment.

A news release from the office of Gov. Kim Reynolds said the grants will expand the use of modernized infrastructure needed for CDL training programs. This money will support an estimated increase of approximately 1,300 students across these colleges’ CDL training programs.

“The pathway to finding a job as a truck driver, one of our most-needed occupations, runs through getting a CDL license,” Reynolds said in a statement. “It’s important that we do everything we can to not only make it easier for individuals to obtain these licenses, but also to support the long-term viability of the programs that made it possible to gain that experience right here in Iowa.”

Grant funds will support the building, purchasing or remodeling or training infrastructure that prepares drivers for meeting CDL requirements, according to the news release. The CDL training programs must offer competency-based training courses or a course that would allow someone to complete training and take the licensing exam within 30 days.

In addition, the colleges awarded money have agreed to a five-year tuition freeze for their training programs once projects funded by the grant are complete.

“Increasing the CDL pipeline is crucial to sustaining and improving our economy,” said Beth Townsend, executive director of Iowa Workforce Development. “This investment today will also give Iowa employers a leg up in recruiting more individuals in our state who have a CDL and are workforce ready.”

The community colleges receiving grant funds are:

Des Moines Area Community College ($1 million)
Eastern Iowa Community College ($797,000)
Hawkeye Community College ($1 million)
Iowa Lakes Community College ($240,000)
Iowa Valley Community College ($68,840)
Iowa Western Community College ($214,500)
Northeast Iowa Community College ($265,000)
Northwest Iowa Community College ($301,000)
Southwest Iowa Community College ($665,000)
Western Iowa Tech Community College ($214,500)

Detailed information on what the training grants will provide at each school can be found here.

Previous CDL training grants

In March, Iowa awarded nearly $3 million to support entry-level driver training at 46 locations in the state.

Employers, nonprofits and related organizations sponsoring or partnering on key CDL training programs were recipients of that grant money.

FMCSA’s entry-level driver training rule took effect in February 2022 after decades of insistence from OOIDA and other groups that prospective drivers be required to complete an entry-level driver training program before receiving a CDL.

The rule remains a point of contention, with one group of lawmakers attempting to repeal it as recently as this past August. LL