Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act of 2025
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMrs. Houchin (for herself and Mr. Garcia of California) introduced …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act of 2025 amends the Higher Education Act to protect single-sex social organizations (primarily fraternities and sororities) from adverse actions by colleges and universities that receive federal funding. The bill specifically prohibits schools from punishing students or organizations solely because they limit membership to one sex.
Who Benefits and How
Single-sex fraternities and sororities benefit by receiving legal protection from institutional sanctions based on their membership practices. Students who join or wish to join these organizations cannot face expulsion, suspension, loss of financial aid, denial of housing, or withdrawal of institutional recognition purely because their organization is single-sex. Greek life national organizations gain federal statutory protection for their traditional membership model.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Colleges and universities that receive federal Title IV funding must comply with new restrictions on their ability to regulate student organizations. University administrators who have implemented or wish to implement policies penalizing single-sex organizations for gender equity reasons face new compliance requirements and reduced authority to take action against these groups. Institutions must demonstrate that any adverse action is based on reasons other than the organization'''s sex-based membership practice.
Key Provisions
- Prohibits federally-funded colleges from requiring students to waive their right to join single-sex organizations as a condition of enrollment
- Prevents schools from taking "adverse actions" (including expulsion, suspension, probation, denial of financial aid, denial of housing, or withdrawal of recognition) against single-sex organizations or their members based solely on sex-based membership
- Prohibits institutions from imposing recruitment restrictions on recognized single-sex organizations that are not imposed on other student groups, unless mutually agreed upon in writing
- Allows institutions to still take action against students or organizations for academic misconduct, nonacademic misconduct, or when an organization poses "clear harm" to students or employees
- Preserves faculty academic freedom to express opinions about and research single-sex organizations
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Prohibits institutions of higher education receiving federal funds from taking adverse actions against single-sex social organizations or their members based solely on sex-based membership practices.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Protect traditional Greek life organizations from institutional policies that penalize sex-segregated membership"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Single-sex fraternities and sororities
- Students who join sex-segregated social organizations
- Greek life national organizations
Likely Burden Bearers
- University administrators seeking to enforce gender equity policies
- Institutions attempting to regulate or sanction single-sex organizations
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Includes expulsion, suspension, probation, censure, formal reprimand, denial of financial assistance, denial of housing, withdrawal of recognition, requirement to disclose membership, and other disciplinary or coercive actions taken by an institution against a single-sex social organization or its members.
A social fraternity or sorority described in section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code that is tax-exempt, or an organization that has been historically single-sex, consisting primarily of students or alumni; or a single-sex private social club (including off-campus) consisting primarily of students or alumni.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology