Iowa students will be required to pass a civics test to graduate high school under a law Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed.
Starting in the 2026-27 academic year, the new measure makes it mandatory for ninth- through 12th-grade students to pass a test with questions from the exam people take to become U.S. citizens to receive their diploma, Reynolds announced in a May 27 news release.
“Requiring high school graduates to pass the U.S. Citizenship Test ensures Iowa students are fully prepared to be responsible and engaged citizens,” Reynolds said in a May 27 statement.
The new measure has been a years-long effort from Reynolds and Iowa lawmakers to get it across the finish line. During the 2025 legislative session, the law, Senate File 369, gained bipartisan support in the Senate and passed in the House with most Democrats opposing and majority of Republicans supporting it.
Reynolds this year inserted the bill as a section in her legislation aimed to improve students’ math scores, which she pushed as a top priority, but a Senate subcommittee struck the civics test passage because lawmakers were considering multiple similar measures.
How will the required civics test to graduate high school in Iowa work?
High schoolers will be required to earn a score of at least 60% on the civics test to graduate, but students can retake the test as many times as needed to pass.
The Iowa Department of Education director will develop and distribute the multiple-choice test to Iowa school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, charter schools and innovation zone schools aligned with the most recent version of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ civics exam.
Under the law, schools can modify the exam for students who have disabilities and for English language learners.
Schools will have to manually report their students’ exam results to the state Department of Education, which will conduct a study into the link between the passage rate on the civics test and high school graduation rates.
The study will be submitted to the Iowa Legislature by June 30, 2029.
Iowa isn’t the first state to require something like a civics test to graduate. States, such as Missouri, Tennessee, Florida and Wisconsin, have similar requirements. Florida’s civics exam assesses a student’s understanding of landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases, the Constitution and how the federal government was established.
Sabine Martin covers politics for the Register. She can be reached by email at sabine.martin@gannett.com or by phone at (515) 284-8132. Follow her on X at @sabinefmartin.
This story was updated to add a gallery.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa students required to pass civics test to graduate high school under new state law
Reporting by Sabine Martin, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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