[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3724 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3724
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit recognized
accrediting agencies and associations from requiring, encouraging, or
coercing institutions of higher education to meet any political litmus
test or violate any right protected by the Constitution as a condition
of accreditation.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 25, 2023
Mr. Owens introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit recognized
accrediting agencies and associations from requiring, encouraging, or
coercing institutions of higher education to meet any political litmus
test or violate any right protected by the Constitution as a condition
of accreditation.
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 ``Accreditation for College Excellence
Act of 2023''.
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--
``(A) the standards for accreditation of the agency
or association do not--
``(i) except as provided in clause (ii)--
``(I) require, encourage, or coerce
any institution to--
``(aa) support, oppose, or
commit to supporting or
opposing--
``(AA) a specific
partisan or political
belief or set of
beliefs; or
``(BB) a particular
viewpoint on a social
or political issue; or
``(bb) support or commit to
supporting the disparate
treatment of any individual or
group of individuals on the
basis of sex, race, or
ethnicity, except as required
by Federal law; or
``(II) assess an institution's
commitment to any ideology, belief, or
viewpoint;
``(ii) 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, or employee of such an
institution to--
``(aa) provide or adhere to
a statement of faith; or
``(bb) 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, or employee to take an oath to
uphold the Constitution of the United
States; or
``(iii) require, encourage, or coerce an
institution of higher education to violate any
right protected by the Constitution; and
``(B) no institution of higher education subject to
its jurisdiction will--
``(i) be required, encouraged, or coerced
by the agency or association to--
``(I) support, oppose, or make a
commitment to supporting or opposing
any belief or viewpoint described in
subparagraph (A)(i)(I)(aa); or
``(II) support or commit to
supporting the treatment described in
subparagraph (A)(i)(I)(bb);
``(ii) be assessed by the agency or
association in the manner described in
subparagraph (A)(i)(II);
``(iii) be prohibited by the agency or
association from--
``(I) having a religious mission,
operating as a religious institution,
or being controlled by a religious
organization as described in
subparagraph (A)(ii)(I); or
``(II) requiring an applicant,
student, or employee to take an action,
as described in subparagraph
(A)(ii)(II); or
``(iv) be required, encouraged, or coerced
to commit a violation described in subparagraph
(A)(iii).''.
(b) Limitation on Scope of Criteria.--Section 496(g) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b(g)) is amended--
(1) in the first sentence, by striking ``Nothing in'' and
inserting the following:
``(1) Rules of construction.--Nothing in'';
(2) by striking the second sentence; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Prohibition.--No accrediting agency or association
may adopt standards for accreditation not provided for in this
section.''.
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