Pregnant Students’ Rights Act
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The bill would require colleges and universities that receive federal student aid to tell students about resources, accommodations, and complaint procedures available to help pregnant students carry a pregnancy to term.
It would add this requirement to the Higher Education Act, aiming to make sure pregnant and potentially pregnant students know their rights before and while enrolled, without creating new substantive rights beyond information disclosure.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require every institution of higher education that participates in federal student aid programs to disseminate information to prospective and enrolled students about rights, accommodations, and resources for pregnant students who wish to carry a baby to term. Required content includes a list of campus and community resources, information on available accommodations for carrying a pregnancy to term and parenting afterward, and instructions on how to file a Title IX discrimination complaint with the school or the Department of Education. Institutions would have to distribute this information through an annual email to enrolled students, student handbooks, orientations, health or counseling centers, and their public website. The bill explicitly states it does not authorize the Secretary of Education to require additional information or create additional rights beyond what is listed.
Key provisions
- 1Would require institutions of higher education receiving federal student aid to disseminate information on pregnant students' rights, accommodations, and resources
- 2Would require disclosure of campus and community resources to help a student carry a baby to term and care for it after birth
- 3Would require information on accommodations available to help a student carry a baby to term and parent afterward
- 4Would require information on how to file a Title IX discrimination complaint related to a student's decision to carry a baby to term
- 5Would specify dissemination methods: annual email, handbooks, orientations, health/counseling centers, and the institution's website
- 6Would clarify the Secretary of Education may not use this provision to require additional information or establish additional rights
Who would be affected
Colleges and universities participating in federal student aid programs, and their prospective and enrolled students, including part-time students who are pregnant or may become pregnant while enrolled. The Department of Education would also process related Title IX complaints.
Why it matters
Pregnant and parenting students would gain clearer, standardized access to information about accommodations and resources that could help them stay in school while carrying a pregnancy to term, and would know how to report discrimination. Institutions would face new administrative disclosure obligations tied to federal student aid eligibility.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092), Section 485 (Sec. 2)
Adds a new subsection requiring institutions to disseminate information on pregnant students' rights, accommodations, and resources.
Agencies directed to act
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6359, the Pregnant Students' Rights Act, would have no significant effect on the federal deficit, with zero impact on direct spending or revenues over the 2026–2035 period.
CBO estimates that H.R. 6359 would produce no change in direct (mandatory) spending, revenues, or the deficit over both the 2026–2030 and 2026–2035 windows. The bill would require colleges and universities receiving federal student aid to inform pregnant students of their rights, available resources, and accommodations — but because institutions are expected to comply voluntarily to preserve their federal aid eligibility, CBO projects no effect on federal student-aid spending. Any costs to the Department of Education to implement the bill would be negligible and subject to annual appropriations (discretionary funding approved by Congress each year); those costs are estimated at less than $500,000. CBO identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How implementation would work
Institutions of higher education would need to build the required disclosures into existing communications channels: an annual email to all enrolled students, student handbooks, new-student orientations, health and counseling centers, and the institution's public website. Compliance would be tied to continued eligibility for federal student aid programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act. The bill does not create a separate enforcement or rulemaking mechanism beyond this dissemination requirement, and explicitly bars the Secretary of Education from expanding the required information or rights through regulation.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate. Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 303.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
Pregnant Students' Rights Act
This bill requires each institution of higher education (IHE) that participates in federal student aid programs to provide certain information to prospective and enrolled students on the rights and resources for pregnant students to carry a baby to term or students who may become pregnant while enrolled at the IHE to carry a baby to term.
In particular, this required information must include
- a list of community and on-campus resources that exist to help a pregnant student in carrying the baby to term and caring for the baby after birth,
- information about the accommodations available to help a pregnant student carry the baby to term and parent the baby after birth, and
- information on how to file a discrimination complaint related to the student's determination to carry a baby to term.
Legislative subjects
Abortion; Education; Higher education; School administration; Sex and reproductive health; Women's education; Women's health
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-447