fect beginning with any student noti-
fied of acceptance for admission to the 
institution during the academic year 
subsequent to the academic year dur-
ing which the determination is made, 
and that no restoration of eligibility 
for ineligible students in subsequent 
academic years will occur prior to the 
beginning of the third academic year 
subsequent to the academic year dur-
ing which the determination is made; 
‘‘(III) explain and justify the de-
termination in a written decision cit-
ing relevant legal precedent, copies of 
which shall be sent to the complain-
ant, the institution, and made avail-
able for public inspection, including 
for online reading by the public; and 
‘‘(IV) require the institution to 
post the determination of the Sec-
retary on the website of the institu-
tion, within two clicks of the home-
page, without a paywall, email login, 
or other restriction to access. 
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‘‘(ii) CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY.—Each 
student enrolled at the institution during 
the academic year in which eligibility is 
lost as described in this subparagraph, and 
each student notified of acceptance for ad-
mission to the institution during the aca-
demic year in which eligibility is lost as de-
scribed in this subparagraph, shall con-
tinue to be eligible to participate, through 
the institution, in programs funded under 
this Act during the 5-year period after the 
date of the loss of eligibility. 
‘‘(F) RESTORATION OF ELIGIBILITY.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 7 
days after the loss of eligibility under sub-
paragraph (E), the Secretary shall inform 
the institution that it may restore eligi-
bility, either by certifying to the Secretary 
that it has entirely withdrawn the policy 
that precipitated loss of eligibility, or by 
submitting a revised policy for review at 
any time following the failure of the Final 
Review. 
‘‘(ii) REVIEW OF REVISED POLICY.— 
The Secretary shall review a revised policy 
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submitted for review after the loss of eligi-
bility and determine not later than 120 
days after the date the revised policy is 
submitted whether it is consistent with the 
expressive rights of students under the 
First Amendment to the Constitution of 
the United States and with the restrictions 
on the regulation of speech by time, place, 
and manner set forth in this Act. 
‘‘(iii) 
INVESTIGATION.—While 
con-
ducting a review to restore eligibility under 
this subparagraph, the Secretary may con-
duct an investigation in which further in-
formation may be sought or requested 
from the institution, or any other source 
the Secretary determines pertinent. 
‘‘(iv) WRITTEN DECISION.—In making 
a determination of whether a revised policy 
submitted for review after the loss of eligi-
bility is either consistent or inconsistent 
with the expressive rights of students 
under the First Amendment to the Con-
stitution of the United States and with the 
restrictions on the regulation of speech by 
time, place, and manner set forth in this 
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Act, the Secretary shall explain and justify 
the determination in a written decision cit-
ing relevant legal precedent, copies of 
which shall be sent to the complainant, the 
institution, and made available for public 
inspection, including for online reading by 
the public. 
‘‘(v) LIMIT
ON
REVIEW.—The Sec-
retary may conduct not more than 1 review 
to restore eligibility for a single institution 
in any given academic year. 
‘‘(vi) RESTORATION.—If an institu-
tion certifies to the Secretary that the pol-
icy that precipitated the loss of eligibility 
has been entirely withdrawn, or if Sec-
retary determines that the revised policy 
submitted for review is consistent with the 
expressive rights of students under the 
First Amendment to the Constitution of 
the United States and with the restrictions 
on the regulation of speech by time, place, 
and manner set forth in this Act, the insti-
tution’s eligibility to receive funds under 
this Act, including participation in any 
program under this title, shall be restored 
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not earlier than the beginning of the third 
academic year following the year in which 
notification of loss of eligibility was re-
ceived. 
‘‘(G) GOOD FAITH REPRESENTATION.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall inform any institution undergoing re-
view of its campus speech policies that it 
expects the institution to represent its poli-
cies, along with any proposed revisions in 
such policies, in good faith. 
‘‘(ii) MISREPRESENTATION.— 
‘‘(I) COMPLAINTS.—A student, 
student organization, or any other 
person or organization may file, with 
the employee in the Office of Postsec-
ondary Education of the Department 
designated by the Secretary under 
paragraph (2) to receive complaints, a 
complaint that an institution has sub-
stantially misrepresented its speech 
policies, or withheld information re-
quested by the Secretary during an 
investigation, or attempted to cir-
cumvent the review process by reinsti-
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tuting a policy under review in a sub-
stantially similar form without inform-
ing the Secretary. 
‘‘(II) LOSS OF ELIGIBILITY.—If 
the Secretary determines upon inves-
tigation, or after receiving a complaint 
under subclause (I), that an institu-
tion has substantially misrepresented 
its speech policies, or withheld infor-
mation requested by the Secretary 
during an investigation, or attempted 
to circumvent the review process by 
reinstituting a policy under review in 
a substantially similar form without 
informing the Secretary, the institu-
tion shall lose eligibility to receive 
funds under this Act, including par-
ticipation in any program under this 
title. 
‘‘(iii) LOSS OF ELIGIBILITY.—If an in-
stitution loses eligibility under clause (ii), 
the Secretary shall notify the institution, 
not later than 7 days after the determina-
tion, that the loss of eligibility shall go into 
effect beginning with any student notified 
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of acceptance for admission to the institu-
tion during the academic year subsequent 
to the academic year during which the de-
termination is made, and that no restora-
tion of eligibility for students admitted in 
subsequent academic years will occur prior 
to the beginning of the third academic year 
subsequent to the academic year during 
which the determination is made. 
‘‘(f) RETALIATION PROHIBITED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No person may intimidate, 
threaten, coerce, or discriminate against any indi-
vidual because the individual has made a report or 
complaint, testified, assisted, or participated or re-
fused to participate in any manner in an investiga-
tion, proceeding, or hearing under this section. 
‘‘(2) SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES.— 
‘‘(A) EXERCISE
OF
FIRST
AMENDMENT 
RIGHTS.—The exercise of rights protected 
under the First Amendment to the Constitution 
of the United States does not constitute retalia-
tion prohibited under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(B) CODE OF CONDUCT VIOLATION FOR 
MATERIALLY FALSE STATEMENT.—Charging an 
individual with a code of conduct violation for 
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making a materially false statement in bad 
faith in the course of a grievance proceeding 
under this section does not constitute retalia-
tion prohibited under paragraph (1). A deter-
mination regarding responsibility, alone, is not 
sufficient to conclude that any party made a 
materially false statement in bad faith. 
‘‘SEC. 493F. CAMPUS SPEECH POLICIES AT PRIVATE UNI-
VERSITIES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each private institution of high-
er education eligible to receive funds under this Act, in-
cluding any program under this title, shall— 
‘‘(1) post in one place on the website of the in-
stitution all policies that pertain to the protection 
and regulation of the expressive rights of students, 
including the right to submit a complaint under this 
section, within 2 clicks of the homepage, without a 
paywall, email login, or other restriction to access; 
‘‘(2) include a copy of such policies in a hand-
book distributed to new students; and 
‘‘(3) send a copy of— 
‘‘(A) such policies to the employee of the 
Department designated by the Secretary to re-
ceive such policies; and 
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‘‘(B) any updates to such policies to such 
employee not later than 60 days after the date 
of a change to such policies. 
‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITY FOR FULL POLICY DISCLO-
SURE.—Each private institution of higher education de-
scribed in subsection (a) shall include with the copy of the 
policies described in subsection (a)— 
‘‘(1) a statement affirming that all policies per-
tinent to the protection and regulation of the expres-
sive rights of students have been disclosed in the 
manner required by this section, along with an ac-
ceptance of contractual obligation to publicly disclose 
all such policies; and 
‘‘(2) a statement affirming that publication of 
such policies as required by this section establishes 
a contractual obligation on the part of the institu-
tion to its students to maintain and enforce the dis-
closed policies, and only those policies, in matters 
pertaining to the protection and regulation of the ex-
pressive rights of students. 
‘‘(c) CAUSE OF ACTION.— 
‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—A student claiming 
that a private institution of higher education in 
which the student is enrolled has violated any re-
quirement or contractual obligation imposed by this 
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section may bring an action in a Federal court of 
competent jurisdiction to enjoin such violation or to 
recover compensatory damages, reasonable court 
costs, or reasonable attorney fees. 
‘‘(2) ACTIONS.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, in an action brought under this 
subsection, the Federal court shall decide de novo all 
relevant questions of fact and law, including the in-
terpretation of constitutional, statutory, and regu-
latory provisions, unless the parties stipulate other-
wise. In an action brought under this subsection, if 
the court finds a violation of subsection (b), the 
court— 
‘‘(A) shall— 
‘‘(i) enjoin the violation; and 
‘‘(ii) award the student— 
‘‘(I) not less than $500 for an 
initial violation; and 
‘‘(II) if the student notifies the 
institution of the violation, $50 for 
each day the violation continues after 
the notification if the institution did 
not act to discontinue the cause of the 
violation; and 
‘‘(B) may award a prevailing plaintiff— 
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‘‘(i) compensatory damages; 
‘‘(ii) reasonable court costs; or 
‘‘(iii) reasonable attorney fees. 
‘‘(d) SECRETARIAL REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) DESIGNATION
OF
AN
EMPLOYEE.—The 
Secretary shall designate an employee in the Office 
of Postsecondary Education in the Department who 
shall— 
‘‘(A) receive and compile updated copies of 
all policies pertaining to the protection and reg-
ulation of the expressive rights of students at 
private institutions of higher education that re-
ceive funds under this section, including any 
programs under this title; 
‘‘(B) preserve all records of such policies 
for a period of not less than 10 years and make 
such policies, and the dates they were disclosed, 
modified, or withdrawn, available for public in-
spection, including for online reading by the 
public; 
‘‘(C) receive complaints from students, stu-
dent organizations, or from any other person or 
organization, that believes a private institution 
of higher education has not disclosed a policy 
pertaining to the protection and regulation of 
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the expressive rights of students as required by 
this section, is enforcing a policy pertaining to 
the expressive rights of students that has not 
been disclosed as required by this section, or 
has failed to make and publish a statement af-
firming contractual responsibility for full policy 
disclosure, or affirming contractual responsi-
bility for the enforcement of speech policies, as 
required by this section; 
‘‘(D) not more than 7 days after the date 
of receipt of a complaint under subparagraph 
(C), review the complaint and request a re-
sponse from the institution; 
‘‘(E) undertake an investigation, in re-
sponse to a complaint under subparagraph (C) 
or at the Secretary’s independent initiative, to 
determine whether a private institution of high-
er education has failed to disclose a policy per-
taining to the protection and regulation of the 
expressive rights of students as required by this 
section, is enforcing a policy pertaining to the 
expressive rights of students that has not been 
disclosed as required by this section, or has 
failed to make and publish a statement affirm-
ing contractual responsibility for full policy dis-
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tion, is enforcing a policy pertaining to the ex-
pressive rights of students that has not been 
disclosed as required by this section, or has 
failed to make and publish a statement affirm-
ing contractual responsibility for full speech 
policy disclosure, or affirming contractual re-
sponsibility for the enforcement of speech poli-
cies, as required by this section, the Secretary 
shall notify the institution and, if applicable, 
the complainant, not more than 7 days after 
the date of such determination, that the institu-
tion is out of compliance with the requirements 
for receiving funds under this Act, including 
participation in any program under this title, 
but will be granted a grace period of 60 days 
to return to compliance before formally losing 
eligibility for receiving funds under this Act, in-
cluding participation in any program under this 
title. 
‘‘(B) SPECIFICATIONS IN NOTIFICATION.— 
As part of the notification under subparagraph 
(A), the Secretary shall specify which policies 
need to be disclosed and which statements af-
firming contractual responsibility for speech 
policy disclosure and contractual responsibility 
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