Iowa’s public universities are “derelict in their duty” of teaching students about the United States, its history and ideals, a presenter told Iowa lawmakers Wednesday.

The Iowa House Higher Education Committee passed four bills, most with amendments, during its meeting after hearing a presentation from the National Association of Scholars.

House Study Bill 55 would require state university faculty to publish syllabus information online for public view, including the educator’s name, course requirements, reading materials and class subject descriptions.

Amendments added to the bill struck language requiring the subject matter of each lecture and discussion to be published online as well, and added a section saying these rules don’t apply to courses that don’t regularly meet in a classroom setting.

Rep. Monica Kurth, D-Davenport said despite the amendments, which were recommended by the Iowa Board of Regents, she was still concerned about the potential cost of complying with the law.

“I think that it represents an overreach that is undesirable,” Kurth said. “I’m also concerned that it takes away the flexibility that might be needed within a course to address certain types of issues or problems as they come up.”

Under House Study Bill 59, universities would also have to post online certain financial information. As amended, budget lines totaling $50,000 or more would need to be published online, as well as expenditures and vendor services that meet that same threshold. Each university administrative unit would also be required to share its budget, and expenditures for diversity, equity and inclusion would be made public as well.

Kurth also voiced concerns about HSB 59, citing an email from the Board of Regents that suggests much of the information is already available online. Rep. Jeff Shipley, R-Birmingham, said the bill would make that information more organized and accessible to the public.

House Study Bill 57 would bar accrediting agencies from taking negative action, such as removing accreditation, from public universities for following or refusing to violate state law. If authorized by the attorney general, universities would be able to bring a civil suit against accreditors who take action against them for that reason.

The bill will head to the floor, but Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, said he has “several concerns” about the Legislature’s ability to block a nongovernmental organization such as an accrediting body from taking action against universities that fail to comply with their policies.

Under House Study Bill 53, public universities would be prohibited from requiring students to take a course relating to DEI or critical race theory to fulfill general education or any academic program standards, with exceptions for programs with titles directly showing the main focus of the course to be on race, gender or sexuality.

The bill also provides that universities cannot require or incentivize employees, appointees and committees to participate in DEI or critical race theory activities. Wilburn brought forward an amendment to remove this section, as he said it could have unintended consequences of not getting faculty the continuing education they need, especially in various medical fields.

Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, urged the committee to resist the legislation, but said he’d like to speak with Wilburn more about potentially adding language relating to medical issues. The amendment failed to pass, but the legislation itself will move to the House floor.

David Randall, director of research at the National Association of Scholars, told lawmakers students across the U.S., including those in Iowa, are not learning the necessary knowledge of the U.S., its government and history, in K-12 or higher education. According to a 2024 survey of 3,000 college students by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a minority of students were able to say when the Constitution was written and that the legislative branch can declare war, among other things.