Accreditation for College Excellence Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2516 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2516

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit political litmus 
  tests in accreditation of institutions of higher education, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 31, 2025

Mr. Owens (for himself, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Grothman, Mr. Rose, 
  Mr. Babin, Mr. Onder, Mr. Moore of West Virginia, and Mr. Messmer) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit political litmus 
  tests in accreditation of institutions of higher education, 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 title may be cited as the ``Accreditation for College 
Excellence Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON POLITICAL LITMUS TESTS IN ACCREDITATION OF 
              INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.

    (a) Operating Procedures Required.--Section 496(c) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (8);
            (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(10) confirms that the standards for accreditation of the 
        agency or association do not--
                    ``(A) except as provided in subparagraph (B)--
                            ``(i) require, encourage, or coerce any 
                        institution to--
                                    ``(I) support, oppose, or commit to 
                                supporting or opposing--
                                            ``(aa) a specific partisan, 
                                        political, or ideological 
                                        viewpoint or belief or set of 
                                        such viewpoints or beliefs; or
                                            ``(bb) a specific viewpoint 
                                        or belief or set of viewpoints 
                                        or beliefs on social, cultural, 
                                        or political issues; or
                                    ``(II) support or commit to 
                                supporting the disparate treatment of 
                                any individual or group of individuals 
                                on the basis of any protected class 
                                under Federal civil rights law, except 
                                as required by Federal law or a court 
                                order; or
                            ``(ii) assess an institution's or program 
                        of study's commitment to any ideology, belief, 
                        or viewpoint;
                    ``(B) prohibit an institution--
                            ``(i) from having a religious mission, 
                        operating as a religious institution, or being 
                        controlled by a religious organization (in a 
                        manner described in paragraph (1), (2), (3), 
                        (4), (5), or (6) of section 106.12(c) of title 
                        34, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect 
                        on the date of the enactment of this 
                        paragraph)), or from requiring an applicant, 
                        student, employee, or independent contractor 
                        (such as an adjunct professor) of such an 
                        institution to--
                                    ``(I) provide or adhere to a 
                                statement of faith; or
                                    ``(II) adhere to a code of conduct 
                                consistent with the stated religious 
                                mission of such institution or the 
                                religious tenets of such organization; 
                                or
                            ``(ii) from requiring an applicant, 
                        student, employee, or contractor to take an 
                        oath to uphold the Constitution of the United 
                        States; or
                    ``(C) require, encourage, or coerce an institution 
                of higher education to violate any right protected by 
                the Constitution.''.
    (b) Limitation on Scope of Criteria.--Section 496(g) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b(g)) is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(g) Limitation on Scope of Criteria.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall not establish 
        criteria for accrediting agencies or associations that are not 
        required by this section.
            ``(2) Institutional eligibility.--An institution of higher 
        education shall be eligible for participation in programs under 
        this title if the institution is in compliance with the 
        standards of its accrediting agency or association that assess 
        the institution in accordance with subsection (a)(5), 
        regardless of any additional standards adopted by the agency or 
        association for purposes unrelated to participation in programs 
        under this title.''.
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