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Read. Follow. Verify.Iowa Bans Mandatory Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Course and Faculty Requirements at Regents Institutions
Last action · March 31, 2025: Subcommittee recommends passage.Sponsor: Jesse Green
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What This Bill Would Do
Senate File 282 prohibits public universities governed by the state board of regents from requiring students to complete diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory courses for graduation, and bars institutions from incentivizing or requiring faculty to include such content or practices in courses or performance reviews, effective July 1, 2026.
The measure alters graduation prerequisites and faculty evaluation criteria across public universities, granting the attorney general authority to compel institutional compliance through legal action beginning with the 2026-2027 academic year.
- State boards of regents govern public institutions of higher education within individual states, establishing institutional policies and operational guidelines. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Students at regents institutions
Faculty at regents institutions
Faculty cannot be required, solicited, or incentivized to participate in DEI practices or include DEI-related content as a condition of course approval, performance assessment, promotion, tenure, or salary adjustments.
State board of regents
The board is required to establish policies ensuring public universities comply with the limitations on student and faculty academic requirements.
Key Facts
- The Act applies to academic years at public institutions of higher education beginning on or after July 1, 2026.
- The state board of regents must establish a policy ensuring public universities do not require or constrain students to enroll in diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory-related courses to satisfy degree, major, minor, or certificate requirements.
- Public universities and their employees or committees are prohibited from requiring, soliciting, or incentivizing faculty to apply DEI practices or include related content as a condition of course approval or degree program listing.
- Faculty members may not be evaluated, promoted, granted tenure, or given salary adjustments based on participation in DEI practices or inclusion of DEI-related content.
Show all 7 facts
- The board may grant exemptions from course and faculty requirements for academic programs whose title clearly establishes a primary focus on racial, ethnic, or gender studies.
- Any person may notify the attorney general of a potential violation, and the attorney general may bring an action for a writ of mandamus to compel institutional compliance.
- The Act explicitly states it shall not be construed to limit individual course instructors' academic freedom to direct instruction within their own courses or limit free discussion of ideas in a classroom setting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still take diversity or ethnic studies courses at a regents institution?
Who enforces these requirements?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed both. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
24 actions- Mar 31, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Mar 27, 2025SenateSubcommittee Meeting: 03/31/2025 12:30PM Senate Lounge.
- Mar 26, 2025SenateSubcommittee: Gruenhagen, Pike, and Quirmbach. S.J. 653 .
- Mar 19, 2025SenateIntroducedRead first time, referred to Education. S.J. 570 .
- Mar 19, 2025HouseMessage from House. S.J. 570 .
- Mar 18, 2025HouseImmediate message. H.J. 717 .
Show 18 earlier actions
- Mar 18, 2025HouseFloorPassed House , yeas 63, nays 34. H.J. 702 .
- Mar 18, 2025HouseAmendment H-1111 , yeas 33, nays 64, lost, as amended. H.J. 701 .
- Mar 18, 2025HouseFloorAmendment H-1114 to amendment H-1111 filed, adopted. H.J. 700 .
- Mar 18, 2025HouseFloorAmendment H-1082 adopted. H.J. 700 .
- Mar 17, 2025HouseAmendment H-1111 filed. H.J. 677 .
- Mar 13, 2025HouseAmendment H-1082 filed. H.J. 659 .
- Mar 3, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Feb 27, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 03/03/2025 11:00AM Lobbyist Lounge.
- Feb 17, 2025SenateSubcommittee: Green, Quirmbach, and Salmon. S.J. 281 .
- Feb 12, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Education. S.J. 252 .
- Feb 6, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced, placed on calendar. H.J. 262 .
- Feb 6, 2025Iowa LegislatureCommittee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 269 .
- Feb 5, 2025HouseCommittee vote: Yeas, 7. Nays, 3. Excused, 1. H.J. 268 .
- Feb 5, 2025HouseCommittee report, recommending passage. H.J. 268 .
- Jan 30, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Jan 23, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 01/29/2025 4:00PM RM 304.
- Jan 22, 2025HouseSubcommittee: Holt, Wheeler and Wilburn. H.J. 117 .
- Jan 22, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Higher Education. H.J. 113 .
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Companion House File
Senate File 282 notes a companion bill, House File 269, introduced by the Committee on Higher Education.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.iowa.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance80How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy90Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment15Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz75Current news / social attention level
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