[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2555 Reported in House (RH)]
<DOC>
Union Calendar No. 682
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 2555
[Report No. 119-781]
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
April 1, 2025
Mrs. Houchin (for herself and Mr. Garcia of California) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
Workforce
August 27, 2026
Additional sponsors: Mr. Mann, Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mr. Carey,
Mr. Grothman, Mr. Hamadeh of Arizona, Mr. Fry, Mrs. Hinson, Mr. Moore
of Utah, Mr. Walkinshaw, Mr. Rogers of Alabama, Mr. Hudson, Ms. Van
Duyne, Mr. Bishop, Ms. Foxx, Mr. Burchett, Ms. Tenney, Ms. Stefanik,
Mr. Taylor, Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia, Mr. Norman, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr.
Williams of Texas, Mr. Shreve, Mrs. Grijalva, Mr. Austin Scott of
Georgia, Mr. LaLota, Mr. Steube, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Mr. Fine, Mr.
Sessions, Mr. Van Orden, Ms. Adams, Mrs. McBath, Mrs. McClain Delaney,
Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mrs. Bice, Mr. Harris of North Carolina, Mr.
Newhouse, Mr. Rose, Mr. Guest, Mr. Schmidt, Mr. Wittman, Mr. Thompson
of Pennsylvania, Mr. Landsman, and Mr. Hill of Arkansas
August 27, 2026
Deleted sponsors: Mr. Garcia of California (added April 1, 2025;
deleted June 25, 2026), Mr. Bishop (added April 14, 2026; deleted April
20, 2026) and Mr. Landsman (added June 25, 2026; deleted June 30, 2026)
August 27, 2026
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April
1, 2025]
_______________________________________________________________________
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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Freedom of Association in Higher
Education Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
(a) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
(1) Protect any student in a single-sex social organization
or any single-sex social organization from any adverse action
by an institution of higher education based on the membership
practice of such organization of limiting membership only to
individuals of one sex.
(2) Ensure--
(A) any student at an institution of higher
education in a single-sex social organization is
treated without bias in comparison to students who do
not participate in single-sex social organizations; and
(B) any single-sex social organization is treated
by an institution of higher education without bias in
comparison to other social organizations that are not
single-sex.
(3) Protect the rights of students to freely associate with
and participate in single-sex social organizations.
SEC. 3. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION PROTECTIONS FOR STUDENTS IN SINGLE-SEX
SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS.
Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 124. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION PROTECTIONS FOR STUDENTS IN SINGLE-
SEX SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS.
``(a) Upholding Freedom of Association Protections.--Any student
(or group of students) enrolled in an institution of higher education
that receives funds under this Act, including through an institution's
participation in any program under title IV, shall--
``(1) be able to form, apply to join, join, participate in,
or lead a single-sex social organization of the student's sex,
whether or not such organization is officially recognized by
the institution; and
``(2) if selected for membership by any single-sex social
organization, be able to join, participate in, or lead such
single-sex social organization, subject to the standards of
such organization for regulating its own membership.
``(b) Nonretaliation Against Students of Single-sex Social
Organizations.--An institution of higher education that receives funds
under this Act, including through an institution's participation in any
program under title IV, shall not--
``(1) take any action to require or coerce a student or
prospective student who is a member or prospective member of a
single-sex social organization to waive the protections
provided under subsection (a), including as a condition of
enrolling in the institution;
``(2) take any adverse action against a single-sex social
organization, or a student who is a member or a prospective
member of a single-sex social organization, based on the
membership practice of such organization limiting membership
only to individuals of one sex; or
``(3) impose a recruitment restriction (including a
recruitment restriction relating to the schedule for membership
recruitment) on a single-sex social organization recognized by
the institution, which is not imposed upon other social
organizations by the institution, unless the single-sex social
organization (or a council of similar organizations) and the
institution have entered into a mutually agreed upon written
agreement that allows the institution to impose such
restriction.
``(c) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to--
``(1) require an institution of higher education to
officially recognize a single-sex social organization;
``(2) prohibit an institution of higher education from
taking an adverse action against a student who forms, applies
to join, joins, participates in, or leads a single-sex social
organization--
``(A) due to academic or nonacademic misconduct;
``(B) because the stated purpose of such
organization is directed to inciting or producing
imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or
produce such action; or
``(C) in the case of private institutions, because
the institution determines that the purpose of such
organization is incompatible with the religious mission
of the institution,
provided that the adverse action is not based on the membership
practice of the organization of limiting membership only to
individuals of one sex;
``(3) prevent a single-sex social organization from
regulating its own membership;
``(4) inhibit the ability of the faculty of an institution
of higher education to express an opinion (either individually
or collectively) about membership in a single-sex social
organization, or otherwise inhibit the academic freedom of such
faculty to research, write, or publish material about
membership in such an organization; or
``(5) create enforceable rights against a single-sex social
organization or against an institution of higher education due
to the decision of such organization to deny membership to an
individual student.
``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Adverse action.--The term `adverse action' includes
the following actions taken by an institution of higher
education with respect to a single-sex social organization or a
member or prospective member of a single-sex social
organization:
``(A) Expulsion, suspension, probation, censure,
condemnation, formal reprimand, or any other
disciplinary action, coercive action, or sanction taken
by an institution of higher education or an
administrative unit of such institution.
``(B) An oral or written warning with respect to an
action described in subparagraph (A) made by an
official of an institution of higher education acting
in their official capacity.
``(C) An action to deny participation in any
education program or activity, including the
withholding of any rights, privileges, or opportunities
afforded other students on campus.
``(D) An action to withhold, in whole or in part,
any financial assistance (including scholarships and
on-campus employment), or denying the opportunity to
apply for financial assistance, a scholarship, a
graduate fellowship, or on-campus employment.
``(E) An action to deny or restrict access to on-
campus housing.
``(F) An action to deny any certification,
endorsement, or letter of recommendation that may be
required by a student's current or future employer, a
government agency, a licensing board, an institution of
higher education, a scholarship program, or a graduate
fellowship to which the student applies or seeks to
apply.
``(G) An action to deny participation in any sports
team, club, or other student organization, including a
denial of any leadership position in any sports team,
club, or other student organization.
``(H) An action to withdraw the institution's
official recognition of such organization.
``(I) An action to require any student to certify
that such student is not a member of a single-sex
social organization or to disclose the student's
membership in a single-sex social organization in a
manner that is different from disclosure of a student's
membership in a social organization that is not a
single-sex social organization.
``(J) An action to interject an institution's own
criteria into the membership practices of the
organization in any manner that conflicts with the
rights of such organization under title IX of the
Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.)
or this section.
``(K) An action to impose additional requirements
on or with respect to advisors serving a single-sex
social organization that are not imposed on social
organizations that are not single-sex social
organizations.
``(2) Single-sex social organization.--The term `single-sex
social organization' means--
``(A) a social fraternity or sorority described in
section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
which is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of
such Code, or a social organization that has been
historically single-sex, the active membership of which
consists primarily of students or alumni of an
institution of higher education; or
``(B) a single-sex private social club (including
an independent organization located off-campus) that
consists primarily of students or alumni of an
institution of higher education.
``(3) Sex.--The term `sex' means the biological sex of an
individual, either male or female.
``(A) Female.--The term `female' means an
individual who has, had, will have, or would have, but
for a congenital anomaly or intentional or
unintentional disruption, the reproductive system that
at some point produces, transports, and utilizes eggs
for fertilization.
``(B) Male.--The term `male' means an individual
who has, had, will have, or would have, but for a
congenital anomaly or intentional or unintentional
disruption, the reproductive system that at some point
produces, transports, and utilizes sperm for
fertilization.''.
Union Calendar No. 682
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 2555
[Report No. 119-781]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for certain
freedom of association protections, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
August 27, 2026
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed