Accreditation for College Excellence Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 2516 Reported in House (RH)] <DOC> Union Calendar No. 380 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 2516 [Report No. 119-444] 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 January 13, 2026 Additional sponsors: Mr. Finstad, Mr. Steube, Mr. Fine, and Mr. Guthrie January 13, 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 March 31, 2025] _______________________________________________________________________ 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 Act 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) in paragraph (8), by striking ``and'' at the end; (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 acc