Sponsors (3)
This bill conditions federal support on restricting DEI activities and increasing document-based oversight: it preserves funding for institutions that already avoid DEI and strengthens federal oversight, but risks reducing supports for marginalized students, increasing financial and administrative strain on colleges, and chilling anti-discrimination remedies.
Colleges that already avoid DEI programs (schools and universities) can continue receiving federal grants and remain eligible for federal student loan programs without taking on new compliance costs.
Federal agencies can require institutions to provide documents on request, improving oversight of how federal funds are used and potentially increasing accountability to state governments and taxpayers.
Students — especially racial/ethnic minorities, women, LGBTQ students, and students with disabilities — will lose access to DEI-supported services and inclusive campus programs, worsening campus climate and reducing access to higher education.
Colleges that refuse certification or are found noncompliant risk losing federal grants and eligibility for federal student loans, which could reduce institutional resources, limit access for low- and middle-income students, and push up tuition.
The bill’s definition tying protected characteristics to “differential or preferential treatment” is likely to chill race- or sex-conscious remedies and other anti-discrimination efforts, undermining programs designed to reduce discrimination.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Conditions federal higher-education funding and federal student loan participation on colleges certifying they do not run programs or maintain offices whose primary purpose is to advocate, promote, or support DEI as defined.
Introduced February 13, 2025 by Gus Bilirakis · Last progress February 13, 2025
Conditions federal higher-education funding and participation in federal student loan programs on colleges and universities certifying that they do not and will not run programs, initiatives, or offices whose primary purpose is to advocate, promote, or support "diversity, equity, and inclusion" (DEI). Institutions must provide information to the Secretary of Education on request to verify the certification, and the Secretary must issue implementing regulations and run an administrative appeal process for adverse determinations.