A bill for an act requiring regents institutions to make certain course syllabus information available to the public online and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HSB 55 .)

House

File

270

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

270

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

HIGHER

EDUCATION

(SUCCESSOR

TO

HSB

55)

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

requiring

regents

institutions

to

make

certain

course

1

syllabus

information

available

to

the

public

online

and

2

including

effective

date

provisions.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

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270

Section

1.

SHORT

TITLE.

This

Act

shall

be

known

and

may

be

1

cited

as

the

“Syllabus

Transparency

Act”.

2

Sec.

2.

Section

262.9,

Code

2025,

is

amended

by

adding

the

3

following

new

subsection:

4

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

39.

a.

Direct

each

institution

of

5

higher

learning

under

its

control

to

make

available

to

the

6

public

on

the

institution’s

internet

site

a

syllabus

for

each

7

undergraduate

course

offered

for

credit

by

the

institution.

8

The

syllabus

shall

include

all

of

the

following:

9

(1)

The

name

of

the

instructor.

10

(2)

A

brief

description

of

each

major

course

requirement,

11

including

each

major

assignment

and

examination.

12

(3)

Any

required

or

recommended

reading

material.

13

b.

The

syllabus

information

made

available

to

the

public

14

pursuant

to

paragraph

“a”

shall

be

subject

to

the

following

15

requirements:

16

(1)

The

information

shall

be

accessible

from

the

17

institution’s

internet

site

home

page

by

use

of

no

more

than

18

five

links.

19

(2)

The

information

shall

be

searchable

by

keywords

and

20

phrases.

21

(3)

The

information

shall

be

accessible

to

the

public

22

without

requiring

registration

or

use

of

a

user

name,

password,

23

or

other

user

identification.

24

(4)

The

information

shall

be

made

available

no

later

than

25

the

first

day

of

classes

for

the

semester

or

other

academic

26

term

during

which

the

section

of

the

course

is

offered.

27

(5)

The

information

shall

be

updated

as

soon

as

practicable

28

after

the

information

changes.

29

(6)

The

information

shall

remain

available

on

the

30

institution’s

internet

site

for

at

least

one

year

after

the

31

date

on

which

the

institution

initially

made

the

information

32

available.

33

c.

This

subsection

does

not

apply

to

an

undergraduate

course

34

that

does

not

regularly

meet

in

a

classroom

setting,

including

35

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but

not

limited

to

an

internship,

independent

study

program,

1

or

study

abroad

program.

2

Sec.

3.

EFFECTIVE

DATE.

This

Act

takes

effect

December

31,

3

2025.

4

EXPLANATION

5

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

6

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

7

This

bill

requires

a

regents

institution

to

make

available

8

to

the

public

on

the

institution’s

internet

site

a

syllabus

9

for

each

undergraduate

course

offered

for

credit

by

the

10

institution.

The

syllabus

shall

include

the

name

of

11

the

instructor,

a

brief

description

of

each

major

course

12

requirement,

and

any

required

or

recommended

reading

material.

13

The

bill

provides

accessibility

requirements

and

timelines

14

for

making

such

syllabus

information

available.

The

bill

does

15

not

apply

to

an

undergraduate

course

that

does

not

regularly

16

meet

in

a

classroom

setting.

17

The

bill

takes

effect

December

31,

2025.

18

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