HR 5505: Equal Campus Access Act of 2025

HR 5505 in plain English: This bill would withhold federal funding available under the Higher Education Act of 1965 from public colleges and universities that deny religious student organizations the same rights, benefits, or privileges given to other student organizations. A public institution could lose these funds if it treats a religious group differently based on that group's beliefs, practices, speech, leadership standards, or conduct standards.

Stated purpose

The bill aims to ensure that religious student organizations at public colleges and universities are not denied rights, benefits, or privileges that other student groups receive, by tying compliance to federal funding under the Higher Education Act.

Key points

• Ties Higher Education Act funding to equal treatment of religious student organizations on public campuses
• Public colleges cannot deny religious groups rights or benefits that other student organizations receive
• Applies specifically to differences based on a group's beliefs, practices, speech, or leadership and conduct standards

Arguments supporters make

• Religious student groups deserve the same access to campus facilities, funding, and recognition that any other student organization gets — treating them differently is discrimination based on belief.
• Public universities that receive federal money should not be allowed to single out religious groups for worse treatment, and this bill gives that principle real enforcement power.
• Students of faith have a constitutional right to organize and meet on campus, and this bill makes sure universities cannot quietly push religious groups out by denying them official standing or resources.

Arguments opponents make

• Some universities argue they need flexibility to enforce nondiscrimination policies — for example, if a religious group's membership or leadership rules exclude students based on characteristics like sexual orientation, forcing equal access may conflict with the school's own anti-discrimination commitments.
• Using the threat of cutting off all Higher Education Act funding is an extremely broad penalty that could harm students campus-wide for what is essentially a policy dispute between the school and one student group.
• Critics say existing court rulings already protect religious student groups from discrimination, making this legislation unnecessary and potentially creating new legal conflicts between competing civil rights protections.

Tradeoffs

Protecting religious student organizations from unequal treatment may come into tension with a university's ability to enforce its own nondiscrimination policies; the bill prioritizes equal access for religious groups but ties compliance to broad federal funding that supports many programs beyond the specific dispute.

Current status in Congress: In committee.

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