Republicans in the Iowa House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday to cap in-state tuition increases and put restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Iowa’s public universities.
The bill would also add two lawmakers to the Board of Regents as nonvoting members, and it would make many other changes to higher education policies in Iowa, including some that the universities have already put into motion.
Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, said the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa have spent too much time and money on DEI initiatives.
“This bill stops the pursuit of these distractions and ideological agendas, reorients the focus of our higher education system back to the pursuit of academic excellence—which should’ve been the point from the start, controls the ever-rising cost of higher education, and gives this body increased oversight over the regent enterprise,” Collins said.
Democrats and six Republicans voted against the bill.
House Minority Leader Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, said she is concerned about the “political motivations behind” the bill.
“It clearly is a bill that creates more inefficiencies, increased costs, reduces services, and puts the accreditation of our region’s institutions at risk,” she said.
Bill puts limits on in-state tuition
The bill would prohibit the Board of Regents from raising in-state university tuition by more than 3% per year, unless they get permission from a panel of lawmakers called the Legislative Council. It would also prevent most undergraduate students’ in-state tuition from increasing while they’re in school, if they earn their degree in four years or less.
Konfrst said Democrats also introduced a bill to cap university tuition. But she said the Republican bill does not do anything to make up for money the universities could lose as a result.
“It does not do anything at the regents institutions to ensure that they won’t have to cut programs, that they won’t have to cut faculty, that they won’t have to cut things at that school,” Konfrst said. “So is it worth it to have a capped tuition rate when I am not going to be able to get what I’m going to the University of Northern Iowa for?”
She said she does not believe the universities are so bloated that they can sustain tuition caps without additional funding from the state.
“I think the 3% increase is very reasonable for the students and sustainable for the institution as well,” Collins said.
Democrats pointed out that state support has declined for universities over the past few decades, leading them to raise tuition to cover costs. House Republicans in particular have been reluctant to increase taxpayer funding of the state’s universities in recent years.
Bill would codify Board of Regents DEI restrictions
Last year, the Iowa Legislature passed a bill requiring the regents to conduct a comprehensive study of DEI programs and freeze hiring for DEI positions. The Board of Regents developed 10 directives for the universities, and the universities are expected to submit their plans next month for implementing the changes.
The bill would put those directives into state law.
It would require the universities to eliminate any DEI programs or staff that aren’t required to comply with federal or state laws or accreditation standards. They must ensure that offices that support diversity or multicultural affairs are marketed as support services for all students.
“Whether they were created with good intentions or not, it has become clear that they now are ideological enforcement centers that suppress the pursuit of truth, and most importantly, merit,” Collins said.
Under the bill, universities would have to ensure no one is evaluated based on their participation in DEI initiatives or is required to disclose their pronouns. They would also have to adopt policies to advance the diversity of intellectual perspectives among job applicants.
Konfrst said Republicans are politicizing and villainizing DEI, and that is going to have negative effects on the state’s future workforce, as businesses have various DEI requirements that Iowa’s college graduates should be prepared to fulfill.
“We’re talking about diversity, which is people different from you in many different ways; equity, which is fairness; and inclusion, which means welcoming women, people with disabilities, welcoming people of color, welcoming the LGBTQ community, allowing you to have different views than those you grew up with,” she said. “I don’t know what’s so scary about that.”
The bill would also require all undergraduate students to complete a 3 credit hour course on American history and civics in order to graduate, and would make numerous other changes to universities and community colleges.
The bill now goes to the Iowa Senate for consideration.
