HR4795-119

What This Bill Does

The bill adds a promise not to conduct a defined nonexpressive commercial boycott to Higher Education Act section 487(a), the institutional participation agreement for title IV student aid. The protected major strategic partner is identified through section 4 of Public Law 113-296, which names Israel; covered entities also include those licensed, regulated or organized under that country's laws. A prohibited boycott is a commercial refusal or termination intended to limit such relations without a valid business reason, subject to the incorporated statutory antiboycott exceptions.

Who Benefits and How

Israeli commercial entities gain protection against the defined institutional commercial exclusions. U.S. students and researchers seeking exchanges with Israel, and Israeli students and faculty seeking U.S. academic participation, gain an equal-treatment certification requirement. Institutions receiving Higher Education Act title VI international-education funds must certify by July 31 that reciprocal academic opportunities will be offered on the same terms as comparable programs involving other foreign countries. This is title VI of the Higher Education Act, not title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

Who Bears the Burden and How

University administrators must align covered commercial policies and academic programs with the funding conditions. Failure to submit the academic certification by July 31 makes the institution ineligible for title VI funds in the next fiscal year, including amounts from earlier awards otherwise available then. Department of Education staff must administer the requirements. Students relying on affected institutional programs could bear downstream funding losses. The reported and engrossed text replaces the introduced separate annual title IV boycott certification and public nonfiler list with a direct participation-agreement promise; the distinct annual academic certification remains. Nonbinding congressional language favors cooperation but creates no separate award.

Key Provisions

• Adds the defined commercial-boycott restriction to title IV institutional participation agreements.
• Requires annual July 31 certification of equal academic-exchange opportunities involving the specified partner.
• Bars next-fiscal-year title VI funding, including otherwise available earlier awards, when the certification is not filed.
• Limits prohibited commercial actions through the valid-business-reason test and incorporated antiboycott exceptions.
• Modifies the earlier title IV certification approach while retaining the separate title VI academic certification.