Iowa Motorcycle Safety Course
Verified against Motorcycle Rider Education (MRE) Program ·
Compiled and verified against primary state DMV/DPS/BMV sources by GetMotorcycleLicense Research Team — cite-or-deny, with no invented figures. How we source & verify →
In Iowa, riders under 18 must complete a motorcycle safety course before they can get the license. This page covers who runs the course, what it costs, how long it takes, and exactly which tests completing it can waive.
Iowa's motorcycle safety course requirements — including course fees from $150 to $349 and completion waiving the state skills test — are verified against Motorcycle Rider Education (MRE) Program (see Iowa Code 321.179 (motorcycle rider education fund)), current as of 2026-07-28.
Iowa Motorcycle Safety Course at a Glance
| Program | Motorcycle Rider Education (MRE) Program |
|---|---|
| Who runs it | Iowa Department of Transportation, delivered through a network of approved sponsors including community colleges, ABATE of Iowa chapters and dealership-affiliated training sites |
| Delivery model | State-approved sponsorsThe state licenses sponsors, who set their own tuition; the rider picks among them at market price. |
| Typical cost | $150–$349 |
| Course length | 15 hours |
| Mandatory under age | Yes, under 18 |
| Waives the riding skills test | Yes |
| Waives the knowledge test | No |
Iowa delivers the Basic RiderCourse as 15 hours, split 5 classroom and 10 range. It also offers a roughly 5-hour Basic Rider Course II, mostly range time, at $75 to $125, and a one-day Advanced Rider Course covering hazard perception, braking and cornering for riders who already hold the endorsement.
Any person 14 or older, licensed or not, may take the course. It is required by law for an applicant under 18 before the Class M license is issued, and optional for an applicant 18 or older who wants the road skills test waived. The program is funded in part by the $2-per-year motorcycle validation fee (Iowa Code 321.191(5)), by motorcycle rider education license plate sales, and by student tuition, which is set by the sponsoring location rather than by the Department and varies from $150 to $349 for the Basic Rider Course. Courses run seasonally from early April through mid-October.
What Iowa’s course covers
Iowa teaches the Basic RiderCourse (BRC), developed by Motorcycle Safety Foundation. Full detail here.
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Basic RiderCourse is designed for beginning riders aged 16 and up, pairing about five hours of classroom or online learning with about ten hours of on-motorcycle training, and it ends in a written knowledge test and a rider skills test.
How Iowa differs: Iowa delivers the Basic RiderCourse as 15 hours, split 5 classroom and 10 range. It also offers a roughly 5-hour Basic Rider Course II, mostly range time, at $75 to $125, and a one-day Advanced Rider Course covering hazard perception, braking and cornering for riders who already hold the endorsement.
Once you complete the course, see license requirements in Iowa.
Source Notes
Where a source is stale, conflicting, or required a judgment call, we document it here rather than presenting a single confident-sounding number. See our methodology for how these calls are made.
- License and permit rules, ages and fees come from the Iowa Code, the Iowa Administrative Code, and the Iowa Department of Transportation. Training facts come from the Motorcycle Rider Education Program, which the Department administers through approved course sponsors. The absence of a helmet requirement is stated on the authority of the Iowa Code's motorcycle-operation section and confirmed directly by the Department of Transportation.
- Iowa prices a motorcycle instruction permit two ways: $2 per year of an existing license's remaining validity when the permit is added to a license already held, or $14 for the full four-year term when no other license or permit is held.
- Motorcycle Rider Education course tuition is set by the sponsoring location, not by the state, and ranges from $150 to $349 for the Basic Rider Course.
Sources
Data last verified: 2026-07-28 (verified by: agent) | Source: Iowa Code 321.179 (motorcycle rider education fund)