Iowa lawmakers advanced another spate of bills aiming to reform higher education in state regent universities on Wednesday.
Among the bills considered and advanced by Iowa House Republicans Wednesday, some would:
- prohibit accrediting agencies from taking adverse actions against state universities
- require syllabus information to be posted online
- require regent universities to be more transparent with their budget
- prohibit universities from requiring classes related to critical race theory or diversity, equity and inclusion for a major that does not involve the subject matter
These pieces of legislation are among the key priorities for the House Higher Education Committee created this session by Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, and was given a mandate to ensure Iowaโs universities and colleges are addressing workforce issues and doing a comprehensive review.
The six bills considered Wednesday makes 15 total bills aimed at reforming Iowaโs higher education system brought by the newly formed Iowa House Higher Education Committee. The committee is chaired by Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, who has led the Iowa Republicansโ critique of state-run universities.
More legislation is set to be considered later this and early next week, including bills that would cap tuition increases at 3 percent per year and prohibit private universities from requiring classes on diversity, equity, and inclusion if they have students who receive the Iowa Tuition Grant program.
Lawmakers advance a bill banning universities from requiring DEI course for certain majors
Iowa lawmakers advanced a bill prohibiting universities from requiring students to take classes that teach critical race theory or diversity, equity, and inclusion if the major does not relate directly to those concepts.
The bill, House Study Bill 53, also prohibits universities from encouraging or requiring professors to teach DEI or critical race theory.
Rep. Steven Holt, R-Dennison, said that DEI classes are often disguised to make them seem unobjectionable but hide โan activist agenda.โ
โLet us judge by character, not skin color, and let us teach our young people that it is character that counts out of many, one people and one nation under God,โ Holt said. โI proudly advance this legislation, and I would give a word of caution to our regent universities. Iโm really glad to hear youโre supporting it, because itโs going to be done one way or another, the easy way or the hard way.โ
Iowa Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, who opposes the bill, said that he thinks that the definition of diversity in the public eye has been different than what he thinks of when he thinks of diversity and that it means diversity in all aspects not just race and gender.
โLetโs be real, the conversation the past few years around diversity, equity, and inclusion, and in my opinion, the limited definitions and what that represents stirs up anger, frustration across the board,โ Wilburn said. โThe diversity, equity, and inclusion that I know is inclusive. It is not just about race.โ
Lawmakers advance bill prohibiting accrediting agencies from taking adverse action
Iowa House lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday that prohibits accrediting agencies from taking adverse actions against state universities and community colleges for following state law.
The bill, House Study Bill 57, allows state universities to sue โ with the permission of the attorney general โ a nongovernmental accrediting body if they are at risk of losing their accreditation because of their compliance with state law.
The bill allows state universities and colleges to seek an injunction against the accrediting body and damages in the amount of federal aid the college received in the year before the adverse action. The bill also awards attorneyโs fees and court costs to the university.
Wilburn said he is concerned that the bill could result in negative consequences for students attending public universities if their degreeโs accrediting body takes adverse action under the bill and is sued by the university.
He said he worries if there will be a stigma for degree holders and that the universities could still lose accreditation.
โSeveral bills have come to the legislature about workforce, and rightly so โ I just have a concern about this,โ Wilburn said. โI donโt know how that works in the end, especially if that non-governmental accrediting body is basing their accreditation not only on professional standards in that particular field of expertise, but if itโs based on some type of national standard or national federal law.โ
Collins said that he would support the bill because itโs important for Iowa lawmakers to have the final say and not accreditors.
โItโs important that the legislature ultimately has the final say when it comes to these matters, not an elected creditor outside of the state of Iowa so I will absolutely be supporting this bill,โ Collins said.
Collins and Iowa Rep. John Wills, R-Spirit Lake, signed off on the bill and Wilburn was opposed.
Iowa lawmakers advance bill to require regent universities post syllabus info online
Iowa lawmakers advanced a bill to require regent universities to post the syllabus for all courses offered by the university on the internet.
The bill would require the name of the instructor, major course requirements, required reading material, and a general description of each lecture.
Collins, who introduced the bill as a committee bill, said that he is in support of the bill because it makes information available for students when they are registering for classes and so they arenโt surprised when they attend the first day of class.
RELATED: Iowa House, Senate considers flurry of bills aimed at regent universities
โI think itโs pretty common sense โ post this information online, make it available to the public, make it available to students as theyโre registering for classes,โ Collins said. โQuite frankly, Iโm not sure why we even have to consider something like this.โ
Rep. Monica Kurth, D-Davenport, said that the requirements might be too much for professors to constantly update the web when their syllabus changes and that the documents are agreements between an instructor and a student.
โA syllabus gives you an outline of what the expectations are and how theyโre going to be evaluated,โ Kurth said. โA syllabus is not legally binding; theyโre a plan, an itinerary. They change at different times as you go through the course. It would take a lot of time to put all that online.โ
Iowa lawmakers advance bill requiring review of academic programs at regentsโ institutions
Iowa House lawmakers advanced a bill requiring the state board of regents to review academic programs offered at institutions of higher education governed by the board.
Under House Study Bill 50, the board would be required to complete a review of all undergraduate and graduate programs offered at the three regentsโ universities and determine whether they align with current and future workforce needs in Iowa.
The required report would recommend whether each academic program should remain unchanged, be eliminated, or be changed. The bill requires the board to consult the Department of Education and the Department of Workforce Development.
The Iowa Senate version of the bill was advanced Tuesday. Carolann Jensen, a lobbyist for the Iowa Board of Regents, said the board can do the study without the legislation.
Jensen said the board periodically reviews programs trying to anticipate the needs of the students and the workforce, and Iowa State University has added majors regarding artificial intelligence, gaming, and biomedical engineering.
Jensen said if the bill goes forward, the board would prefer to not have to consult with the Department of Education and the Department of Workforce Development, but rather let the board review its own programs.
One Iowa, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, registered opposed to the bill. Keenan Crow, a lobbyist for the organization, said college is not a job training company and higher education institutions are at their best when they teach students to think critically and adapt.
โWhile the text of the bill isnโt necessarily offensive in and of itself, I do worry that the totality of this bill, plus all of the other higher education bills that weโve seen, has an ideological goal in mind for this program and evaluation, rather than simply a practical one,โ Crow said.
Crow also said itโs difficult to try to predict the future and know what the needs of Iowaโs workforce will be 10 years from now.
Iowa lawmakers advance a bill requiring regent institutions to make financial information publicly available
A panel of Iowa House lawmakers advanced a bill that would require regent institutions to make certain financial information available to the public.
Under House Study Bill 59, each regent institution of higher education would have to publish budget information that exceeds $1,000 online. This would include detailed information about budgets, expenditures, vendors, goods or services, or written contracts.
The institutions would also be required to include an annual budget for each administrative unit of the institution; a budgeted salary report; information on expenditures for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and similar commitments; and a transaction register that contains a complete record of all funds expended.
The bill stipulates that any information prohibited from being disclosed to the public by federal or state law will be redacted from the report and would take effect Dec. 1, 2025.
Jensen said the bill requires more conversation, and recommended they change the threshold from $1,000 to $10,000.
Iowa Rep. Jeff Shipley, R-Fairfield, said it would be possible to find a middle number between $1,000 and $10,000. Shipley also said the bill will give the public more transparency on the institutions.