Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act of 2026

This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to safeguard the rights of students to freely associate with social organizations, particularly single-sex groups. Its primary purpose is to protect students and single-sex social organizations from adverse actions by institutions of higher education based solely on their practice of limiting membership to individuals of one sex. The legislation also seeks to ensure that these organizations are treated without bias compared to other student groups. The bill mandates that any student can form or join recognized or unrecognized social organizations, including single-sex ones, and participate if selected for membership. Institutions receiving federal funds are explicitly prohibited from coercing students to waive these protections or taking any adverse action against single-sex organizations or their members solely due to their single-sex nature . Furthermore, institutions cannot impose recruitment restrictions on single-sex organizations that are not applied to other student groups, unless a mutual agreement is in place. However, the bill clarifies that it does not require institutions to officially recognize any social organization. It also permits institutions to take adverse action against students for reasons like academic or nonacademic misconduct, or if an organization poses a clear harm, provided such action is not based solely on the organization's single-sex membership. The legislation explicitly states that it does not prevent social organizations from regulating their own membership or inhibit faculty academic freedom.