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Helping Student Parents Succeed Act
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish notification requirements for policies and information concerning expectant and parenting students, and for other purposes.
Summary
The bill would require colleges and universities that participate in federal higher education programs to develop and publicize policies and information for expectant and parenting students. Institutions would need to provide information about leave of absence policies related to pregnancy and adoption, lactation accommodations, and financial aid eligibility for parenting students, including dependent care allowances and effects on financial aid eligibility. Colleges would also be required to publicize available support services and resources such as child care, housing assistance, food programs, health insurance, and mental health services. The bill would additionally require institutions to provide information about legal protections and complaint procedures related to pregnancy discrimination and disability rights under federal law.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. McBath, Lucy [D-GA-6] (D-GA)
9 cosponsors
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC)
- Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2] (R-NE)
- Rep. Bice, Stephanie I. [R-OK-5] (R-OK)
- Rep. Ciscomani, Juan [R-AZ-6] (R-AZ)
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA)
- Rep. Hayes, Jahana [D-CT-5] (D-CT)
- Rep. Johnson, Julie [D-TX-32] (D-TX)
- Rep. Nunn, Zachary [R-IA-3] (R-IA)
- Rep. Ross, Deborah K. [D-NC-2] (D-NC)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Lucy Mcbath’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $16,251
- CROWNE PARTNERS, INC. $7,250
- MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL $6,600
- Q PRIME INC $6,600
- CYNTHIA MISCIKOWSKI $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Lucy Mcbath → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jun 12, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. · house
- Jun 12, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 12, 2025
Mrs. McBath (for herself, Mr. Bacon, Ms. Ross, Mrs. Bice, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Mr. Ciscomani, Mrs. Hayes, and Mr. Nunn of Iowa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish notification requirements for policies and information concerning expectant and parenting students, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Helping Student Parents Succeed Act”.
SEC. 2. EXPECTANT AND PARENTING STUDENTS POLICIES.
Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 18 U.S.C. 1092) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(n) Expectant and Parenting Students Policies.—
“(1) In general.—Each institution of higher education participating in any program under this title shall develop and make available (including on the institution’s website)—
“(A) a statement of policy concerning expectant and parenting students, including the policy of the institution regarding a leave of absence related to pregnancy (and related medical conditions), and a leave of absence related to the birth or adoption of a child, which shall include any option (including time requirements) for making up missed work for taking such a leave of absence; and
“(B) all information relating to available resources available at, or provided by, such institution for expectant and parenting students—
“(i) in manner that does not favor one particular such resource over any other such resource; and
“(ii) that includes the information listed in paragraph (2).
“(2) Minimum information.—An institution of higher education shall, pursuant to paragraph (1), make available the following information:
“(A) Information regarding lactation accommodations available to students.
“(B) A description of the process for requesting accommodations, and the type of accommodations available to expectant and parenting students, including—
“(i) information on accommodations for pregnancy-related medical conditions; and
“(ii) information on accommodations for students who have parental responsibilities.
“(C) Information regarding financial aid eligibility for expectant and parenting students, including—
“(i) the availability of dependent care allowances for a parenting student for the purposes of determining the student’s cost of attendance;
“(ii) the ability to change dependency status, including during an award year, following the birth of a child;
“(iii) the availability of and eligibility requirements for any emergency financial aid programs provided by the institution; and
“(iv) an explanation of the effect that a leave of absence may have on a student’s demonstration of satisfactory academic progress, including for the purposes of eligibility to participate in financial aid programs under this title.
“(D) Information on available student support services, programs, and community resources, such as academic advising, child care (including child care subsidy and assistance programs), housing (including housing subsidies and utility assistance programs), food (including food assistance programs), public benefits, health care, health insurance, mental health, transportation benefits, mentoring, and other services available for expectant and parenting students, both on-campus and in the community, and under local, State, and Federal law.
“(E) Information regarding the availability of on- campus housing that permits students to live with dependents.
“(F) Information on the rights and protections that are guaranteed to expectant and parenting students under applicable Federal and State laws.
“(G) The institution’s procedures for addressing complaints under title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), including procedures for reporting complaints under such title.
“(H) The institution’s procedures for addressing complaints alleging discrimination based on a pregnancy-related disability under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.) or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), including procedures for reporting complaints under such laws.
“(I) The contact information for the institution’s Office of Accessibility, the institution’s title IX coordinator, and any other relevant staff members who serve as a point of contact for, or offer services available to, expectant and parenting students.”. <all>
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