H.R. 2516 — Accreditation for College Excellence Act of 2025

This section amends criteria under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) for the Secretary of Education's recognition of accrediting agencies—which certify institutions' eligibility for federal student aid under HEA Title IV—by requiring agencies to confirm that their accreditation standards (1) do not require, encourage, or coerce institutions to support or oppose specific partisan, political, ideological, social, cultural, or political viewpoints or beliefs; assess commitment to any ideology; support disparate treatment of individuals based on protected classes under federal civil rights laws (except as required by federal law or court order); or violate constitutional rights, while (2) expressly permitting religious institutions to maintain a religious mission, require statements of faith or codes of conduct consistent with that mission, and mandate oaths to uphold the Constitution. The section further limits the Secretary to establishing only statutorily required recognition criteria and provides that an institution compliant with its accreditor's standards evaluating the factors in HEA Section 496(a)(5) (i.e., success with student achievement, program curriculum, faculty, facilities, administrative capacity, financial soundness, and stability) satisfies HEA accreditation requirements for institutional eligibility under HEA Section 102, regardless of the accreditor's additional standards unrelated to HEA program participation.