Sponsors (2)
The bill conditions continued federal support for international and language programs on annual certifications that aim to protect contractual continuity and discourage certain politically motivated boycotts, at the cost of added administrative burden, potential loss of funding, constraints on institutional autonomy, reputational risks, and possible academic-security and financial downsides.
Students, faculty, and institutions retain Title VI-funded language, area-studies, and international program support and maintain exchange/research opportunities because compliance preserves funding and requires reciprocity for exchanges with major strategic partners.
Colleges and universities gain clearer federal standards forbidding certain politically motivated commercial boycotts, which reduces ambiguity in contracting and partnering decisions.
The bill affirms congressional support for academic collaboration with designated major strategic partners, reducing institutional uncertainty about international partnerships and signaling legislative backing for exchanges and cooperation.
Colleges and universities face an ongoing administrative burden from required annual certifications, diverting staff time and resources—especially at smaller or resource-constrained institutions.
Institutions that miss the July 31 certification risk losing all Title VI funds for the next fiscal year, threatening language, area-studies, and international programs and disrupting students’ educational opportunities.
Requiring institutions to certify and publicly naming non-compliant colleges creates reputational risk and may politicize compliance, exposing schools to public pressure or counter-boycotts.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Conditions Title IV and Title VI eligibility on annual certifications that institutions will not boycott designated "major strategic partners" and will allow reciprocal academic participation.
Official title: To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit an institution that participates in a nonexpressive commercial boycott of Israel from being eligible for certain funds under that Act, to require an institution that participates in certain programs under that Act to certify that students are not unreasonably obstructed from participating in academic programs in Israel, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 29, 2025 by Virginia Ann Foxx · Last progress July 29, 2025
Requires colleges and universities that receive Title IV or Title VI funds to submit annual certifications by July 31 that they will not engage in certain commercial boycotts of designated U.S. "major strategic partners" and that they will permit student and faculty exchanges with those partners on equal terms. Institutions that fail to certify become ineligible for Title VI funding for the following fiscal year; compliance is added to institutional program participation requirements for Title IV.