In a wave of legislation reshaping the landscape of public higher education, Republican-led states like Texas, Ohio, and Florida are advancing efforts to exert greater political control over university curricula and campus governance. Supporters of these moves argue they ensure academic programs reflect civic and workforce needs, while critics warn they represent a sweeping intrusion into institutional autonomy and academic freedom.
In Texas, a bill awaiting Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature would give university governing boards—appointed by the governor—expanded authority to approve or eliminate core curriculum requirements and low-enrollment degree programs. Boards would also gain influence over hiring decisions and faculty governance. The legislation creates a state ombudsman to investigate institutions for violating new restrictions, including DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives.
Republican state Rep. Matt Shaheen, a co-sponsor of the bill, said its goal is to ensure that curricula align with workforce readiness and civic life.
“The objective of this legislation is to provide consistency with respect to our curriculum and the degrees we’re offering our students,” Shaheen said during debate on the House floor.
But critics see the legislation as a political overreach. “The bill is not about improving education, it is about increasing control,” Democratic Rep. Donna Howard said in a committee hearing, calling the measure “extreme micromanagement.”
Ohio has already passed a sweeping law that mandates a “civil literacy” course as a graduation requirement at public colleges. The required readings range from the U.S. Constitution to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. The law also restricts the way institutions handle controversial issues such as climate change, DEI, and immigration.
Opponents say the law has already chilled classroom discourse.
“Faculty are sanitizing syllabi, scrubbing websites, and canceling courses,” Christopher McKnight Nichols, a history professor at Ohio State University, told the Associated Press. Nichols is part of a coalition working to overturn the law via referendum.
These state-level efforts mirror earlier moves in Florida and executive actions under President Donald Trump, and the language has since been echoed in model legislation and state laws aimed at reducing institutional support for DEI and what lawmakers call ideological bias.
“This is an existential attack on higher education that we’re facing,” Isaac Kamola, director of the Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom at the American Association of University Professors, told the Associated Press. “Political operatives have basically used their positions of power to demand that institutions conform to their ideas.”
As the trend accelerates, experts warn that public universities may soon resemble K-12 schools in how curriculum decisions are shaped by political forces.
