Iowa House lawmakers approved legislation Thursday to alter university presidential searches, tuition options and general education requirements.
General education review
HF 2361, passed by the Iowa House Higher Education Committee more than one month ago alongside other legislation, would require state universities to include courses in American history and government in general education requirements. The courses would be designated by the centers for civic education at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa and the Center for Intellectual Freedom at the University of Iowa.
The Iowa Board of Regents would be required to review all general education requirements and core curricula by the end of this year and the civic centers at each university would need to create ongoing lecture and debate series and complete annual reports for the General Assembly.
Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, said this bill builds on the progress made over the past two years in “advancing civic education and working to address the lack of intellectual diversity on our college campuses.”
“Our core curriculum is in desperate need of reform,” he said.
A fiscal note attached to the legislation stated that in fiscal year 2029, instructional and administrative costs from implementing the legislation would total $890,000 at the UI, $660,000 at UNI and $520,000 at ISU.
Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, introduced an amendment to remove the center for intellectual freedom from becoming a course designator and to remove the section on lecture and debate series. The amendment failed to pass.
The Center for Intellectual Freedom is at “less than 20 percent of anticipated enrollment,” Konfrst said, even with a $1 million allocation from the state, and the program should be paused until it is “ready for prime time.”
Rep. Adam Zabner, D-Iowa City, asked Collins if, like the legislation passed this session that “rewrote K-through-12 social studies curriculum to fit a rightwing perspective,” he should expect another bill next year mandating what must be taught in college courses to “make sure your perspective is included.”
Collins said Zabner gave him an idea for the next legislative session, and the “tremendous progress” made in K-12 curriculum needs to be made in Iowa’s institutions of higher education. The bill passed with a 58-33 vote.
“If you make one student take an extra semester, pay an extra six months of rent, pay an extra semester of tuition, because Taylor Collins wanted them to take a class, that’s a huge mistake,” Zabner said.
Bill expands anti-DEI policy
HF 2487 would further regulate general education requirements at state universities, requiring the board of regents to review core curricula in which any required courses or course content including diversity, equity and inclusion or critical race theory topics would be removed at their discretion.
The Iowa Attorney General would have the authority to investigate violations of state policy regarding DEI activities at universities, community colleges and other state entities under the bill, with that institution having to reimburse the office for any costs related to special counsel contracted with the attorney general for the investigation.
Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, said amendments to the legislation in committee give the board of regents “much greater flexibility” over what should be eliminated and addresses concerns of “legitimate courses that are not DEI” being prevented from being offered to students.
“The objective was never to prevent real history and facts from being taught,” Holt said.
Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, introduced an amendment that would have, if approved, stated that personal electronic devices would not be subject to subpoena by the attorney general’s office and place investigative responsibility on the board of regents or community colleges’ boards of directors as applicable.
He asked members of the House to think about where they want their priorities to land when it comes to the duties and responsibilities of the attorney general’s office. This legislation will increase the caseload going to the office while it tries to make progress on cold cases, rape kit reviews and areas of consumer protection, Wilburn said, and it would give the office a task that is already being completed elsewhere.
The bill passed with a vote of 62-27.
Presidential search committees
HF 2245 would require the Iowa Board of Regents to use a presidential search committee when seeking a new leader for a state university, which would only be allowed to recommend “the most well-qualified” candidates of those interviewed. The board could only select a new president from these candidates, and identifying information about candidates could only be publicized after a written agreement is signed.
The legislation was amended to state that only board of regents members on the search committee would be involved in the decision of whether to reveal a candidate’s identity.
Rep. Heather Matson, D-Ankeny, described this and HF 2361 as great for fans of micromanaging, saying the bill is “a solution in search of a problem that does not truly exist,” and that universities should be able to make decisions in their presidential search that make the most sense for their culture and needs.
Collins called the results of Iowa State University’s recent presidential search process “problematic,” while acknowledging that “the right candidate ultimately was selected.” The legislation passed with a 62-27 vote.
“We should no longer roll the dice on the current process,” Collins said. “It’s time to fix it before any more searches are initiated.”
Tuition freeze
HF 2362 in its original form would have frozen tuition for resident undergraduate state university students at what they paid their first year. It was amended during debate to become an opt-in program in which students would pay a fee not to surpass 10 percent of tuition at the outset of their education. The amendment also codified board policy on tuition increases, restricting them to the three-year rolling average of the Higher Education Price Index.
While Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville, said the Legislature should “get the freeze gun out” to help Iowans with rising costs of health care, car insurance, rent, food and gas, he encouraged the House to vote yes on the tuition guarantee program. The bill passed with an 85-4 vote.
Student loan information
HF 703, a bill held over from last year that saw Iowa Senate approval Wednesday, also saw majority support from the House in debate. The legislation would require ISL Education Lending to send annual percentage rate information to Iowa College Aid, and depending on how the rates between the Federal Direct PLUS loan and college family loans and partnerships loans, Iowa College Aid would need to send information to universities to share in financial aid offers.
The legislation passed with a 90-1 vote, and will head to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk. Each of the other bills passed by the House will be sent to the Senate for further consideration.
Brooklyn Draisey is a Report for America corps member covering higher education for Iowa Capital Dispatch, where this story first appeared.
