H.R. 2555: Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act of 2025

H.R. 2555 would add new protections to the Higher Education Act for students who join single-sex social groups. Any college that accepts federal funds — including schools whose students use federal student aid — couldn't take an "adverse action" against a student or the organization solely because the group limits membership to one sex.

That covers a lot of ground. The bill spells out ten kinds of penalties a school couldn't impose on that basis: expulsion, suspension, probation, formal reprimands, even oral warnings; denying scholarships, on-campus jobs, or graduate fellowships; blocking campus housing; withholding recommendation letters; stripping leadership roles; pulling a group's official recognition; and forcing students to disclose or deny their membership.

Schools also couldn't write recruitment rules that single out recognized fraternities and sororities unless the same rules apply to every other student group, or both sides sign an agreement. And colleges couldn't make students sign away these protections just to enroll.

The bill draws limits, too. It wouldn't force any school to officially recognize a group. Colleges could still discipline students or organizations for academic or other misconduct, or when a group's purpose poses what the bill calls "clear harm" to students or staff — as long as the action isn't based solely on the single-sex membership rule. It protects a group's control over its own membership, preserves faculty members' freedom to criticize these organizations, and says it creates no new right to force any group or school to admit a particular student.