Iowa ICAP mandate
Iowa's Individual Career and Academic Plan (ICAP): Career-Focused Learning from Grade 8
Under Iowa Code § 279.61 and Iowa Administrative Code 281-49, every student develops an ICAP starting in grade 8. Unlike most states, Iowa law emphasizes high-quality career experiences over formal assessments—aligning student interests with real regional labor-market opportunities.
In Brief
Iowa's ICAP mandate, shaped by 2016 legislation (HF2392), takes a learner-centered approach that prioritizes real career experiences over traditional inventory-based planning. Each student creates their plan by end of 8th grade and reviews it annually through graduation, with the law explicitly requiring plans to connect student interests to local, regional, and state labor-market needs.
The 2016 legislation deliberately shifted the mandate away from formal career assessments and inventories. This means Iowa's ICAP focuses on authentic career exploration—job shadows, workplace experiences, industry partnerships—rather than paper-based inventory results. SchooLinks serves as Iowa's state-designated platform, though the real power lies in the experiences that drive the plan forward.
What ICAP actually requires
Checked against Iowa Code § 279.61; Iowa Administrative Code 281-49, not against a category description.
Recommended assessment battery for Iowa districts
Sequenced across the 7th-12th grade arc.
Who Iowa districts already use for ICAP
Real tools and workarounds we found in use for ICAP compliance — not a hypothetical shortlist.
What Iowa's ICAP Requires
Related on JobCannon
This page is one of 38 verified career-plan mandate pages JobCannon tracks, each citing a primary statute or regulation — for the Iowa ICAP mandate that source is Career and Academic Planning - Iowa Dept of Education. For the broader rollout picture, see career assessments for school districts, or the JobCannon for Business hub.
District-tier pricing
Scale is $199/mo and covers 200 people per billing period — one person, however many assessments they take, and a class-code arrival counts the same as an emailed invite. Growth is $999/mo for 1,000. Above that, or where enrolment should not be metered at all, it is an Enterprise conversation rather than a larger self-serve plan. A district-sized enrolment runs out of the monthly tiers quickly — the Education Licence below prices your whole enrolment per student for the year, assessments uncapped, and adds the full career and skills corpus.
Free
For micro-teams trying the platform
- ▸10 candidate invites/month (resets the 1st of each month)
- ▸All 164+ assessments
- ▸Premium result for every candidate you invite
- ▸Every candidate profile fully open — nothing blurred
- ▸Share link via email or Slack
- ▸Free trial of the coordinator dashboard
Starter
For solo coaches and small HR
- ▸30 candidates/mo included; extra candidates are $2 each
- ▸All 164+ assessments
- ▸Premium report (archetype + blind spots + work-style brief)
- ▸Coach notes per candidate
- ▸PDF export (client-ready)
- ▸Session prep recommendations
- ▸Candidate progress tracking
Team
For startups, teams and HR
- ▸80 candidates/mo included; extra candidates are $2 each
- ▸Everything in Starter
- ▸Team DNA dashboard
- ▸Compatibility matrix
- ▸Conflict-pattern detection
- ▸Compare 2-3 team members
- ▸Manager prep briefings
- ▸Shared admin access (2 seats)
Scale
For agencies, L&D and scale-ups
- ▸200 candidates/mo included; extra candidates are $2 each
- ▸Everything in Team
- ▸Integrity + social-desirability scales (fake-good detection)
- ▸White-label PDFs (your logo)
- ▸Full assessment API (start, score, retrieve results)
- ▸Custom assessment builder (beta)
- ▸Admin seats not billed per seat
- ▸Priority email support
Growth
For high-volume screening without a contract
- ▸1,000 candidates/mo included; extra candidates are $2 each
- ▸Everything in Scale
- ▸Invoice / PO billing, not just card
- ▸Named support contact with a response-time target
- ▸Annual billing option
Enterprise
For 200+ person companies
- ▸Candidate volume set in your contract, all assessments
- ▸Everything in Scale
- ▸SLA (99.9% uptime)
- ▸Dedicated Customer Success
- ▸Custom integrations built against your tenant (Greenhouse and Ashby ship today)
- ▸Annual billing, invoice payments
Self-serve checkout via Stripe — major cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link. Cancel anytime; 14-day money-back on every paid plan. Enterprise via the contact form below.
Education Licence — priced per student, per year
One rate per enrolled student for the academic year, sized for Iowa district or school-level ICAP rollouts. Assessments uncapped, career and skills corpus included — multiply your own enrolment by the band and you have the most this can cost before you talk to us.
$1.25 down to $0.80 per student, per year — assessments uncapped
That multiplication is a ceiling, not a bill. If our self-serve plans would cover the same number of students for less, you are quoted the lower figure — we do not sell an institution its own students back at a higher price than anyone can buy them for on the pricing page.
District
A large school, multi-school district or trust
per year
- ▸Every assessment in the catalogue, retakes included, no per-assessment charge
- ▸Cohort dashboard with cross-school and year-over-year comparison
- ▸Full career and skills corpus — 2,521 careers, 1,863 skills
- ▸Read the corpus live over the API, or take a versioned snapshot
- ▸Named contact, quote letter formatted for procurement
College or university
A university, college or college group
per year
- ▸Every assessment in the catalogue, retakes included, no per-assessment charge
- ▸Cohort dashboard with cross-school and year-over-year comparison
- ▸Full career and skills corpus — 2,521 careers, 1,863 skills
- ▸Read the corpus live over the API, or take a versioned snapshot
- ▸Named contact, quote letter formatted for procurement
State system
A statewide or national programme
per year
- ▸Every assessment in the catalogue, retakes included, no per-assessment charge
- ▸Cohort dashboard with cross-school and year-over-year comparison
- ▸Full career and skills corpus — 2,521 careers, 1,863 skills
- ▸Read the corpus live over the API, or take a versioned snapshot
- ▸Named contact, quote letter formatted for procurement
£350 per school, per year — a flat whole-school licence rather than a per-student rate, because that is the unit UK schools budget in. Same uncapped assessments and same corpus. Excludes VAT.
The ladder starts at 1,301 students. Below that a self-serve plan already covers your whole roll for less than a licence would, so that is what we will point you at — and UK schools have the flat whole-school licence above at any size. Bands are by enrolment, and the rate applies to your whole roll rather than to a seat count you have to predict. Invoiced annually against a purchase order; no per-assessment charge and nothing to top up mid-year. Assessing an institution's enrolled students is covered by the Education Licence, not by a hiring plan. What is in the corpus.
Request a Iowa district pilot
Tell us how many students you expect to assess in a term and what your review process asks for. If something on your requirements list is not in the product, we will say so in the reply rather than in the pilot.
No. Iowa law deliberately moved away from formal career assessments and inventories in 2016. The mandate instead emphasizes real career experiences and exploration activities that connect students to actual regional labor market opportunities. JobCannon's assessments (like RIASEC and Skills Audit) can enrich career conversations, but they are not legally required.
All students must have an ICAP in place by the end of 8th grade. It is then reviewed and revised annually through graduation.
Most states emphasize career assessments; Iowa emphasizes career experiences. The 2016 legislation explicitly required a shift toward high-quality, experiential career-related activities aligned to actual regional job opportunities—moving away from paper-based inventories.
School counselors typically lead the process, working with students to develop a plan that reflects their strengths, interests, and career exploration to date. Annual reviews ensure the plan stays relevant as the student progresses.
JobCannon's career assessments (RIASEC, Career Match, Skills Audit) can help students understand their strengths and interests, which informs stronger, more personalized ICAP development and conversation. Since Iowa does not legally require formal assessment, JobCannon is a value-add tool to deepen career exploration, not a compliance mandate.
Iowa's mandate does not legally require formal career assessments or inventories; it is centered on career experiences and labor-market alignment.