Iowa lawmakers move to mandate students take Center for Intellectual Freedom classes amid low enrollment

[progressoid]

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - University of Iowa students could soon be required to take classes at the Center for Intellectual Freedom — or they won’t be able to graduate.

Republican lawmakers added a provision to a massive budget bill during a 35-hour legislative session requiring University of Iowa students to complete at least six credit hours from the center to earn an undergraduate degree. The bill now heads to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk.

...

Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks even suggested naming it after Charlie Kirk, the assassinated conservative leader.

The center opened this spring. The Iowa Board of Regents has allocated $1 million in funding to start the center.

Low enrollment

The nonprofit Common Sense Institute reported student interest and enrollment was low — with just eight students in one class.


more...https://www.kcrg.com/2026/05/20/iowa-lawmakers-move-mandate-students-take-center-intellectual-freedom-classes-amid-low-enrollment/

[UpInArms]

1. Intellectual Freedom?

Fukking rightwing propaganda bullshit

[JT45242]

2. The rule can only apply to incoming students (approx 5200 per year)

Let's say that they are giant lecture hall classes with 300 students each. So about 18 sessions per year for 3 hours the first year. 36 sessions the second year.

To teach that load, U of Iowa would need to find 18 instructors at approximately $5-7K a piece in base pay and twice that many in year 2 and beyond. Throw in employer FICA, IPERS, etc and you are likely at over $10K per session.

Plus they would have to find ways to get those into the schedule in those large lecture halls.

But hard to indoctrinate and brain wash (although TBH not that hard to get idiots around here to think Charlie Kirk was a hero) with 300 undergrads who can totally check out during class. So, if you drop it to classes of 100, then you would need 52 sessions year 1 and 104 every year after. That $1 million will not go far.

To think, this was once one of the state's with the best education systems in the country (for over 50 years thanks to be people like Professor Lindquist who pushed the Iowa test of basic skills and created the ACT.

[rurallib]

3. even Iowa's 30 million pigs think this one stinks

Iowa won't have to worry about their college graduates leaving anymore - kids with any sense won't go to college in Iowa.

[JT45242]

4. Both my boys went away and wanted no part of U of Iowa or Iowa State

We moved here when they were in grades 2 and 7. Both looked seriously at schools no closer than Purdue. Ended up at Rose Hulman Institute of Technology and Ohio Northern University.

Both happy to be far from here -- and we live in the blue dot of Iowa City.