A bill for an act prohibiting certain requirements for students and faculty at regents institutions relating to diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory and including applicability provisions.(See HF 269.)
House Study Bill 53, titled the “Freedom from Indoctrination Act,” would direct the Iowa Board of Regents to adopt policies preventing public universities under its control from requiring or constraining students to take courses that include defined diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory-related content as part of degree, major, minor, certificate, or general education requirements. The bill defines that content broadly to include topics such as systemic racism, implicit bias, intersectionality, social justice, race-based privilege, and related concepts when tied to contemporary American society.
The bill also bars regents institutions, and those acting on their behalf, from requiring, soliciting, or incentivizing faculty to participate in DEI/CRT-related practices or to include such content in courses as a condition of course approval, program designation, or faculty evaluation, promotion, tenure, or salary decisions. It contains an exemption for majors, minors, certificates, or academic units whose titles clearly show a primary focus on racial, ethnic, or gender studies, but even then students could not be forced into those courses to satisfy unrelated degree requirements. The bill would take effect for academic years beginning on or after July 1, 2026.
If enacted, the bill would add a new chapter to Iowa law governing the Board of Regents and public institutions of higher education, limiting how degree requirements, course approvals, and faculty incentives may be structured at those institutions. It would also create an enforcement mechanism allowing any person to notify the attorney general of a suspected violation, and authorizing the attorney general to seek mandamus relief to compel compliance. The bill expressly states it should not be read to limit an individual instructor’s academic freedom within their own classroom or the free discussion of ideas.
The available voting history suggests the bill had support in the House Committee on Higher Education, where it advanced on a 7-3 vote. The bill’s framing and title indicate a strong policy preference among supporters for restricting mandatory DEI and critical race theory-related requirements at regents institutions. No committee transcript is available here, so the record does not show detailed debate, but the committee vote indicates the measure was favorably received by a majority of the committee.
The main point of contention is whether public universities should be prohibited from requiring or incentivizing DEI- and CRT-related coursework and faculty practices, with supporters viewing such requirements as ideological coercion and opponents likely concerned about academic freedom, curriculum autonomy, and institutional discretion. Another likely area of dispute is the bill’s broad definitions of DEI/CRT-related content, which could sweep in a wide range of courses and topics, versus the bill’s stated exemption for programs clearly centered on racial, ethnic, or gender studies. The bill attempts to address criticism by preserving classroom-level academic freedom, but it still imposes significant limits on program requirements and faculty evaluation criteria.