United States HR 2555: Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act of 2026

Bill Text

I 
119THCONGRESS 
1
STSESSION 
H. R. 2555 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for certain freedom 
of association protections, and for other purposes. 
IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  
APRIL1, 2025 
Mrs.  H
OUCHIN(for  herself  and  Mr.  GARCIAof  California)  introduced  the  fol-
lowing  bill;  which  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Education  and  Work-
force 
A  BILL  
To  amend  the  Higher  Education  Act  of  1965  to  provide  
for  certain  freedom  of  association  protections,  and  for  
other purposes. 
Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This  Act  may  be  cited  as  the  ‘‘Freedom  of  Associa-4
tion in Higher Education Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 6
(a)  P
URPOSES.—The  purposes  of  this  Act  are  as  fol-7
lows: 8
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•HR  2555  IH
(1)  Protect  any  student  in  a  single-sex  social  1
organization   or   any   single-sex   social   organization   2
from  any  adverse  action  by  an  institution  of  higher  3
education based solely on the membership practice of 4
such  organization  of  limiting  membership  only  to  in-5
dividuals of one sex. 6
(2) Ensure any student in a single-sex social or-7
ganization  or  any  single-sex  social  organization  is  8
treated  without  bias  in  comparison  to  students  at  an  9
institution  of  higher  education  who  do  not  partici-10
pate  in  single-sex  social  organizations,  or  other  so-11
cial  organizations  at  an  institution  of  higher  edu-12
cation that are not single-sex. 13
(3)  Protect  the  rights  of  students  to  freely  asso-14
ciate  with  and  participate  in  social  organizations,  in-15
cluding single-sex social organizations. 16
SEC.   3.   FREEDOM   OF   ASSOCIATION   PROTECTIONS   FOR   17
STUDENTS IN SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS. 18
Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 19
(20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 20
the following: 21
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•HR  2555  IH
‘‘SEC.  124.  FREEDOM  OF  ASSOCIATION  PROTECTIONS  FOR  1
STUDENTS IN SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS. 2
‘‘(a)  U
PHOLDINGFREEDOM  OFASSOCIATIONPRO-3
TECTIONS.—Any  student  (or  group  of  students)  enrolled  4
in an institution of higher education shall— 5
‘‘(1)  be  able  to  form  or  apply  to  join  any  recog-6
nized  or  unrecognized  social  organization,  including  7
any single-sex social organization; and 8
‘‘(2)  if  selected  for  membership  by  any  social  9
organization,  be  able  to  join  such  social  organization  10
and participate in such social organization. 11
‘‘(b) N
ON-RETALIATIONAGAINSTSTUDENTS OFSIN-12
GLE-SEXSOCIALORGANIZATIONS.—An   institution   of   13
higher  education  that  receives  funds  under  this  Act,  in-14
cluding  through  an  institution’s  participation  in  any  pro-15
gram under title IV, shall not— 16
‘‘(1)  take  any  action  to  require  or  coerce  a  stu-17
dent  or  prospective  student  who  is  a  member  or  pro-18
spective  member  of  a  single-sex  social  organization  19
to  waive  the  protections  provided  under  subsection  20
(a),  including  as  a  condition  of  enrolling  in  the  insti-21
tution; 22
‘‘(2)  take  any  adverse  action  against  a  single-  23
sex  social  organization,  or  a  student  who  is  a  mem-24
ber  or  a  prospective  member  of  a  single-sex  social  25
organization,  based  solely  on  the  membership  prac-26
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tice  of  such  organization  limiting  membership  only  1
to individuals of one sex; or 2
‘‘(3)  impose  a  recruitment  restriction  (including  3
a  recruitment  restriction  relating  to  the  schedule  for  4
membership  recruitment)  on  a  single-sex  social  orga-5
nization  recognized  by  the  institution,  which  is  not  6
imposed  upon  other  student  organizations  by  the  in-7
stitution,  unless  the  organization  (or  a  council  of  8
similar  organizations)  and  the  institution  have  en-9
tered  into  a  mutually  agreed-upon  written  agreement  10
that  allows  the  institution  to  impose  such  restriction.  11
‘‘(c)  R
ULES   OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing  in  this  12
section shall— 13
‘‘(1)  require  an  institution  of  higher  education  14
to  officially  recognize  a  social  organization,  including  15
a single-sex social organization; 16
‘‘(2)  prohibit  an  institution  of  higher  education  17
from  taking  an  advers