H.R. 7683, Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act
As ordered reported by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on March 21, 2024
By Fiscal Year, Millions of Dollars
2024
2024-2029
2024-2034
Direct Spending (Outlays)
0
*
*
Revenues
0
0
0
Increase or Decrease (-) in the Deficit
0
*
*
Spending Subject to Appropriation (Outlays)
*
*
not estimated
Increases net direct spending in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2035?
No
Statutory pay-as-you-go procedures apply?
Yes
Mandate Effects
Increases on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2035?
No
Contains intergovernmental mandate?
No
Contains private-sector mandate?
No
* = between -$500,000 and $500,000.
Summary
H.R. 7683 would require postsecondary education institutions to meet certain requirements to participate in federal student aid programs, including the Federal Pell Grant Program and the federal student loan programs.
Under the bill, public institutions generally would have to:
Allow students to freely engage in noncommercial expressive activity on campus;
Provide religious student organizations with any rights otherwise afforded to other student organizations;
Make admission and employment decisions without soliciting applicants’ or employees’ personal beliefs regarding any particular social or political issues, including diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives beyond upholding existing federal law; and
Publish viewpoint-neutral policies for allocating mandatory student fees among student organizations and for assessing security fees for student-organized events.
If a public institution was found by a court to have violated any of the bill’s requirements, the institution would lose eligibility for federal student aid until the Secretary of Education determined that the institution was no longer in violation.