Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2516 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 2516
5	5	To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit political litmus
6	6	tests in accreditation of institutions of higher education, and for other
7	7	purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	MARCH31, 2025
10	10	Mr. O
11	11	WENS(for himself, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr.
12	12	R
13	13	OSE, Mr. BABIN, Mr. ONDER, Mr. MOOREof West Virginia, and Mr.
14	14	M
15	15	ESSMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
16	16	mittee on Education and Workforce
17	17	A BILL
18	18	To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit
19	19	political litmus tests in accreditation of institutions of
20	20	higher education, and for other purposes.
21	21	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
22	22	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
23	23	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
24	24	This title may be cited as the ‘‘Accreditation for Col-4
25	25	lege Excellence Act of 2025’’. 5
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28	28	•HR 2516 IH
29	29	SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON POLITICAL LITMUS TESTS IN AC-1
30	30	CREDITATION OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER 2
31	31	EDUCATION. 3
32	32	(a) O
33	33	PERATINGPROCEDURESREQUIRED.—Section 4
34	34	496(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 5
35	35	1099b(c)) is amended— 6
36	36	(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 7
37	37	(8); 8
38	38	(2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at 9
39	39	the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 10
40	40	(3) by adding at the end the following: 11
41	41	‘‘(10) confirms that the standards for accredita-12
42	42	tion of the agency or association do not— 13
43	43	‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 14
44	44	(B)— 15
45	45	‘‘(i) require, encourage, or coerce any 16
46	46	institution to— 17
47	47	‘‘(I) support, oppose, or commit 18
48	48	to supporting or opposing— 19
49	49	‘‘(aa) a specific partisan, po-20
50	50	litical, or ideological viewpoint or 21
51	51	belief or set of such viewpoints or 22
52	52	beliefs; or 23
53	53	‘‘(bb) a specific viewpoint or 24
54	54	belief or set of viewpoints or be-25
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57	57	•HR 2516 IH
58	58	liefs on social, cultural, or polit-1
59	59	ical issues; or 2
60	60	‘‘(II) support or commit to sup-3
61	61	porting the disparate treatment of any 4
62	62	individual or group of individuals on 5
63	63	the basis of any protected class under 6
64	64	Federal civil rights law, except as re-7
65	65	quired by Federal law or a court 8
66	66	order; or 9
67	67	‘‘(ii) assess an institution’s or pro-10
68	68	gram of study’s commitment to any ide-11
69	69	ology, belief, or viewpoint; 12
70	70	‘‘(B) prohibit an institution— 13
71	71	‘‘(i) from having a religious mission, 14
72	72	operating as a religious institution, or 15
73	73	being controlled by a religious organization 16
74	74	(in a manner described in paragraph (1), 17
75	75	(2), (3), (4), (5), or (6) of section 18
76	76	106.12(c) of title 34, Code of Federal Reg-19
77	77	ulations (as in effect on the date of the en-20
78	78	actment of this paragraph)), or from re-21
79	79	quiring an applicant, student, employee, or 22
80	80	independent contractor (such as an adjunct 23
81	81	professor) of such an institution to— 24
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84	84	•HR 2516 IH
85	85	‘‘(I) provide or adhere to a state-1
86	86	ment of faith; or 2
87	87	‘‘(II) adhere to a code of conduct 3
88	88	consistent with the stated religious 4
89	89	mission of such institution or the reli-5
90	90	gious tenets of such organization; or 6
91	91	‘‘(ii) from requiring an applicant, stu-7
92	92	dent, employee, or contractor to take an 8
93	93	oath to uphold the Constitution of the 9
94	94	United States; or 10
95	95	‘‘(C) require, encourage, or coerce an insti-11
96	96	tution of higher education to violate any right 12
97	97	protected by the Constitution.’’. 13
98	98	(b) L
99	99	IMITATION ONSCOPE OFCRITERIA.—Section 14
100	100	496(g) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 15
101	101	1099b(g)) is amended to read as follows: 16
102	102	‘‘(g) L
103	103	IMITATION ONSCOPE OFCRITERIA.— 17
104	104	‘‘(1) I
105	105	N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not es-18
106	106	tablish criteria for accrediting agencies or associa-19
107	107	tions that are not required by this section. 20
108	108	‘‘(2) I
109	109	NSTITUTIONAL ELIGIBILITY.—An institu-21
110	110	tion of higher education shall be eligible for partici-22
111	111	pation in programs under this title if the institution 23
112	112	is in compliance with the standards of its accrediting 24
113	113	agency or association that assess the institution in 25
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116	116	•HR 2516 IH
117	117	accordance with subsection (a)(5), regardless of any 1
118	118	additional standards adopted by the agency or asso-2
119	119	ciation for purposes unrelated to participation in 3
120	120	programs under this title.’’. 4
121	121	Æ
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