Iowa Board of Regents and private university officials have said they’re ready to work with the new higher education committee this session. Photo by Brooklyn Draisey | Iowa Capital Dispatch
By Brooklyn Draisey | Iowa Capital Dispatch
As a new Iowa House higher education committee gets its start with the beginning of the legislative session, college and university leaders are signaling their willingness to work with lawmakers while seeking clarification about what “return on investment” the Statehouse is seeking.
Higher education committee chair Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, said at the committee’s first meeting Tuesday that this is the first committee to oversee higher education in more than 50 years, with the last higher education committee meeting in 1971.
“Looking back then, that was really at a time when our campuses were in a state of chaos,” Collins said. “And in my opinion, we have a different problem now, and that is a crisis of confidence in our higher education system.”
Collins said the committee will explore legislation aimed at reviewing academic programs to compare them to workforce needs of the state, reforming core curriculum, controlling costs and expanding access to higher education for rural Iowans, as well as increasing intellectual diversity and proficiency in civics education on campuses and combating “predatory institutional accreditors.”
Iowa Board of Regents prepared to work with committee
The only three-letter acronym Collins said the committee would be using during the session is “MEI,” which stands for merit, excellence and intelligence, rather than diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI.
State universities have already cut positions and eliminated or restructured offices related to DEI, directed to do so by the Iowa Board of Regents and legislation passed last session. Collins previously said he doesn’t see a need to pass more bills aimed at DEI on college campuses, but the committee will check in to make sure the universities are following the law.
Iowa Board of Regents spokesperson Josh Lehman said in an email that the board office has received “several questions and requests for information” from Collins, and the office is happy to work with him and other lawmakers on the committee with any questions they have.
Lehman said in his email that a recent economic impact study reported that the three state universities together contributed almost $15 billion in income to the state in fiscal year 2022, or around 7% of the total gross product of the state. The universities also support close to 200,000 Iowa jobs, he said, or 1 out of every 10 jobs.
“We want our universities to be effective and efficient, and continue to be good stewards of the funds that are provided through appropriations and tuition,” Lehman said in his email.
“Thousands of graduates enter the state’s workforce each year, filling key jobs in areas of need. Our universities have good placement rates.”
The committee will also oversee community colleges and private universities, whose students benefit from the Iowa Tuition Grant program.
Private universities ready for dialogue with lawmakers
Gary Steinke, president of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, said he welcomes the committee and the chance it gives the association to work more closely with the Legislature and “brag” about the work universities are doing.
“I think it gives us a great chance from our private college sector to provide answers to questions that may be out there, to provide information and to talk about what private colleges are, what the money that they give the students that go to private colleges is for,” Steinke said.
Joel Shrock, president of Graceland University in Lamoni, said he wasn’t surprised to hear about the committee’s formation after seeing the Legislature’s interest in higher education last year, and he understands the concerns of higher education becoming politicized.
Dialogue is an important tool in moving forward with lawmakers, Shrock said, and in helping them understand some of the issues they see happening on college campuses across the U.S. won’t be found in Iowa.
“We do not support one party or the other. We are not engaged in any kind of politicized attempt to indoctrinate anybody in anything,” Shrock said. “We’re an institution of higher learning, and that means questioning and looking at all sides of an issue, and that’s what we try to do.”
Higher education leaders have previously expressed concern about potential changes to the Iowa Tuition Grant program. Collins said in a previous interview that the committee will use data private universities collect about what degree programs grant recipients go into and whether those degrees will result in employment to decide what changes, if any, need to be made.
Mark Putnam, president of Central College in Pella and chair of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities board, said applying the Iowa Tuition Grant program to high-demand degree programs and job fields has been in discussion for many years, but he’s not concerned about changes like this being implemented.
State lawmakers continue to show interest in enabling and encouraging students to earn the credentials they need to pursue a career, especially in industries where employers need people who can do the job. However, the state cannot “repeal human development,” Putnam said, and try to force a young person into making decisions that could have a large impact on their life.
Putnam said he always tells families that majoring in a job title is a risky decision, as things like technology can change industries rapidly and significantly, and it would be a lot to ask a 17- or 18-year-old to make a choice for something that could look incredibly different in a few years.
While encouragement to enter into high-demand careers and their education programs through incentives and opportunities make perfect sense, Putnam said, lawmakers have told him over the years that they wouldn’t put the Iowa Tuition Grant program in a position of limiting student choice by narrowing what kinds of programs they’re allowed to enroll in with the grant.
“While the impulse is understandable, the practical reality on the ground does not support it,” Putnam said.
Shrock said significant changes to the Iowa Tuition Grant program could have a negative impact on the private universities like Graceland, where between one-third and half of enrolled students are Pell eligible, and therefore eligible for the state grant.
Higher education’s return on investment
Another three-letter acronym Collins used in previous interviews about the new committee is ROI, or return on investment. He said lawmakers have “every right” to look at the academic programs being offered at universities to see how state funds are being used and what benefits Iowa taxpayers will see from them.
Putnam agreed that there should be a return on investment for every tax dollar spent, but it needs to be made clear just what kind of return the Legislature is expecting. The question of what return on investment colleges are providing is layered and multifaceted, he said, depending on the party that gets the return.
For students and their families who invest time, energy and money into higher education, the return on investment could look different than the return for employers, who rely on universities to prepare students to be adaptable, able to communicate effectively and work in teams, Putnam said. This could be different still from the return the state wishes, in both wanting colleges to prepare students for the workforce and to be active citizens.
“If it’s support for people who have very low incomes, that are in need, then the return on investment is a better, stronger society, and people who are gaining capacity and self-sufficiency in America,” Putnam said.
Shrock, who was a historian before entering into higher education administration, said discussions of what kind of return on investment higher education should provide have been going on for years.
Everyone can agree on the point that universities should educate their students to be successful, Shrock said, but people differ on just how that is accomplished. He said it is a university’s job to help students understand how their degree and the skills they learn in college can be applied to the workforce, whether their major was in something that translates directly into a job field or not.
“We’ve often had this argument about, should liberal education be about uplifting humanity, or should it be about preparing people for the workforce, and I guess I don’t understand why those things are mutually exclusive,” Shrock said. “I think education can be an intrinsic good, and I also think that it can help people develop the skills they need for the modern workforce, particularly as jobs change.”
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