The University of Iowa officials are anticipating that almost 97 to 98 percent of students will have completed the free speech training by the end of the fall semester, officials revealed Wednesday. 

The information was presented Wednesday during the state Board of Regents meeting at the Levitt Center for Advancement at the UI. Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education Tanya Uden-Holman said at the meeting that roughly 47,000 employees had completed the training as of August.

As a result, about 95 percent of current faculty and staff are compliant, Uden-Holman said.

“Our first-year students and incoming transfer students in the fall of 2023, so far 89 percent have completed the training module in success at Iowa,” Uden-Holman said. “We anticipate that by the end of the semester, probably 97 to 98 percent will look completed.”

RELATED: More than a third of students participated in free speech training

The free speech training was first implemented by regent schools in spring 2022 and became a required module for all students, faculty, and staff to complete. An announcement at the time explained that the training was required under Iowa law, and was to educate the campus community on its rights under the First Amendment.

The training was implemented in response to conservative students reporting that they did not feel they could express themselves. A notable instance came when the UI College Republicans chalked messages of support on campus for the police, former President Donald Trump, and other controversial issues in 2021 that were subsequently washed away by other students.

The completion rate at Iowa State University reported an 87 percent completion rate among staff and faculty, while a 41 percent rate for the student body in fall 2022. 

No numbers were provided by the University of Northern Iowa, although Chief of Staff in the Office of the President at UNI ​​Oksana Grybovych Hafermann said work was also being done to get students to complete the training.