College Crackdown Blocked: New Bill Protects Single-Sex Fraternities and Sororities from Institutional Penalties

The “Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act of 2025” is a direct response to colleges that have tried to pressure or penalize students who belong to single-sex social groups, like fraternities and sororities. Essentially, if a college takes federal money (which most do, via things like Title IV student aid), they can no longer take "adverse action" against a student or a group just because that group limits membership based on sex. This means schools can’t banish you from campus housing, yank your scholarship, or deny you an official letter of recommendation solely because you’re a member of a male-only fraternity or a female-only sorority (SEC. 2).

The Campus Policy Showdown

For years, some universities have tried to force all student organizations to become co-ed, or they’ve stripped official recognition from single-sex groups. This bill shuts that door. It guarantees that students have the right to form or join any social organization, recognized or not, including those that are strictly single-sex. If you’re invited to join, the school can’t force you to give up your membership as a condition of enrolling, nor can they stop your group from recruiting new members, unless there's a specific, written agreement otherwise (SEC. 3).

What Counts as Punishment?

The list of what colleges cannot do is extensive, covering everything from official reprimands to denying access to job opportunities or fellowships. For example, if you’re a senior in a fraternity that the school dislikes because it’s single-sex, the college can’t refuse to provide a required certification for your licensing board or deny you a leadership role in another campus club, purely based on your fraternity membership. The bill is clear: the school can’t even make you certify whether or not you belong to a single-sex group (SEC. 3).

The Catch: What Colleges Can Still Do

This isn't a free pass for bad behavior. The law doesn't force a college to officially recognize any social organization. More importantly, it doesn’t stop the school from disciplining a student for academic issues or for causing "clear harm to people at the school." If a student violates the code of conduct by, say, vandalizing property or cheating on an exam, the school can still suspend or expel them. The key is that the punishment cannot be based only on the fact that the student belongs to a single-sex group (SEC. 3). This is where things get tricky, as colleges may have to work harder to prove that any disciplinary action is based on conduct, not association.

Who’s Footing the Bill for the Policy Change?

This legislation significantly limits the power of universities that receive federal funds to govern student life. While it clearly protects the freedom of association for students in these groups, it also removes a tool administrators have used to push for broader campus non-discrimination policies. For college administrators, this means a major headache: they lose the ability to restrict recruitment or sanction groups based on sex-segregated membership alone. They must now tread carefully, ensuring that any action taken against a student or organization cannot be interpreted as retaliation for single-sex membership, opening the door for potential legal challenges if students feel their rights under this new law have been violated.