Iowa legislative leader eyes ‘broad’ higher ed review this session

Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley has served in the Legislature nearly 18 years and has never — over that span — seen state lawmakers undertake a broad review of “how we deliver higher education.”

But the time now has come, Grassley said, referencing an Iowa House Republicans statement on priorities for the upcoming 2024 legislative session that notes, “Our higher education system has clearly lost focus on its true mission nationwide.”

“Eighteen years is a long time without having really done that, with the amount of taxpayer dollars that are going into it,” he said of plans for a higher ed review in the upcoming session, which begins Monday. “It isn’t targeting one specific thing.”

In a “laundry list” of higher ed issues the Legislature could get into, Grassley mentioned “a tuition freeze to the way we select presidents at the regent institutions, apprenticeships and job work programs.”

“I think it's going to be a very broad review,” he said.

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Iowa’s public universities are governed by the state Board of Regents, whose volunteer members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by a two-third Senate vote. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds has appointed or reappointed all nine members of the board — including five registered Republicans, three independents and one Democrat.

Lawmakers for years have called Iowa’s public university presidents to the Capitol to present their appropriation requests, supplemented by written questions for the campuses from legislators. In 2021, lawmakers formed a “regents university study committee” that collected information from university leaders on a wide range of topics — including enrollment, graduation rates, post-graduation job placement, debt, administrative hiring, tenure, and student aid.

During the last session, university leaders fielded questions about tenure and diversity, equity and inclusion — with Republicans, as part of the final education appropriations package, barring the regent universities from spending new money on DEI-related hires, programming or training unless required for accreditation or by a grant.

That section of the funding bill also mandated the regents launch a comprehensive review of its campuses’ current DEI programming — which it did, producing a list of recommendations the campuses now are working to implement.

Meanwhile, the regents continue to seek tens of millions more in state support — including a $39.3 million increase in appropriations the board has requested for the 2025 budget year being considered this legislative session.

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If approved, the regents total state funding would swell from $580.7 million to $620 million — although still below the dollar level of general operating funds the state appropriated its public universities more than 20 years ago in 2001.

It has been years since the Legislature approved a full funding ask from the regents — who’ve watched their general education funding reliance flip from 77 percent state support in 1981 to 31 percent this year. Meanwhile, reliance on tuition income has ballooned to 64 percent from 21 percent in 1981.

Where the Legislature used to distribute appropriation increases more generally to Iowa’s public universities, lawmakers in 2022 proposed — but did not adopt — tying them entirely to scholarships for in-demand majors. However, lawmakers in the last session did create a new Iowa Workforce Grant and Incentive Program, with $6.5 million set aside for regent university students pursuing paths toward in-demand jobs.

And rather than granting the board’s request last year for $32 million more in general fund dollars, the Legislature appropriated a total $7.1 million for specific programs across the universities — $2.8 million to the University of Iowa College of Nursing; $2.8 million to Iowa State University’s Future Ready Workforce Program; and $1.5 million to University of Northern Iowa’s Educators for Iowa program.

Grassley said workforce needs could be a funding focus again.

“Do we want to fund the degrees that we want turned out to try to fill that high demand right now that we have? Because probably one of the No. 1 issues is workforce,” he said. “Where do we want our taxpayer dollars to go? Do we want them to help fill those jobs? Or do we just want to write blank checks to the regent institutions?”

A ‘distraction’

But Democratic House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said the universities can’t be focused solely on skills — arguing they need state support to continue churning out the well-rounded graduates that many companies want to hire.

“When I talk to employers about what they're looking for in employees, they are not telling me skills,” Konfrst said. “They are telling me, I need critical thinkers. I need students who can write. I need students who can think independently, work independently and bring new ideas to the table. So are our higher education institutions given the freedom to provide those skills? Or are we focused on providing only work-based skills?”

Referencing the generational decline in Iowa legislative support for public higher education, Konfrst aired concerns of harm that could come from compelling universities to focus on only skills production.

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“Providing a holistic and robust education as they're supposed to do and charged with doing is critically important to the future of our state,” she said. “We need to make sure that we're funding our regent institutions in a way that takes the burden off of Iowa families when it comes to tuition and puts the burden back on the state to provide those opportunities for Iowans.”

To the question of diversity, equity and inclusion across the campuses — and the Republican push to tamp it down — Konfrst called it a “distraction.”

“I think it's to grab headlines and not really to address the issue,” she said. “They talk about issues that are buzzwords and that are distractions. They don't want Iowans to notice that they've underfunded our regent institutions for years.”

Konfrst said companies need employees who know and do DEI-related work. “What is so scary to Republicans about teaching students how to live in a community that is diverse, equitable and inclusive?” she asked.

Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, agreed, saying “This is part of the culture war that just boggles my mind.”

“Why would we be so afraid of diversity and inclusion?” she asked. “It's who we have always been as a state, that we have been welcoming to all people, all religions and suddenly we're afraid of it. I don't understand."

Given the regents’ recent DEI review and recommendations for the campuses, Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes, said he’s in a wait-and-see mode “before we determine if anything needs to pass” on the issue this session.

“But overall, I have a lot of faith in our current Board of Regents,” Whitver said. "They took that issue very serious this last year.“

'Appropriate levels of funding’

Spokesmen and women for Iowa’s public universities directed questions about legislative priorities to regents spokesman Josh Lehman, who said the board and its universities “continue to advocate for appropriate levels of funding support in order to help provide the high-quality educational opportunities for Iowans and meet the goals of the institutional missions.”

“We will continue to work with the Legislature and governor's office on any issue or piece of legislation that relates to our universities,” Lehman said, reiterating, “Our institutions are economic engines that help drive the state's economy, collaborating with business, industry and each other to foster success for economic development and entrepreneurship efforts in all 99 counties in the state.”

Iowa’s public university officials said they haven’t yet received invitations or set dates to meet with lawmakers about appropriations. And they haven’t received a list of questions to answer.

UNI President Mark Nook independently has met with Reynolds and legislative leaders about UNI’s 2025 budget request, and to provide an update on the university and answer questions, UNI spokesman Pete Moris said.

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“These meetings have been largely individual meetings at the president's request and have included the governor, House of Representatives Speaker Grassley and Majority Leader (Matt) Windschitl, Senate President (Amy) Sinclair and Majority Leader Whitver, chairs of the House and Senate appropriations committees, chairs of the House and Senate education appropriation subcommittees, and various members of the House and Senate education policy committees.”

Whitver referenced those meetings when asked about funding for the regent universities — and whether lawmakers need to do anything to ensure taxpayer dollars go toward producing workers for Iowa-specific jobs.

“On their own, the universities are starting to do that,” Whitver said. "If you look at someone like UNI, who I met with last week, they're starting to really focus those degree programs where the kids are going to have the most success when they're done. And I think that's very important, just in the honesty and transparency of what a college degree will do for you, but also benefit the state.“

Tom Barton and Erin Murphy of The Gazette’s Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report. Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com