Nonpartisan civic infrastructure
AllCiv·Legis1
·

H.R. 10661

BillFederalHouseIn Committee
Beyond the Box for Higher Education Act of 2026
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · October 1, 2026
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Congress
119th (2025–2027)
Introduced
October 1, 2026
Cosponsors (1)
1D 0R
View PDF ↗

Summary

Highlight any text to annotate
This bill directs the Department of Education to create guidance for colleges and universities on removing criminal and juvenile justice questions from their admissions applications. The legislation stems from findings that approximately 70 million Americans have criminal records and that people with justice involvement face barriers to education and employment, with people of color and low-income individuals disproportionately affected. The bill recommends that institutions either eliminate these questions from admissions entirely or, if they must ask about criminal history, delay the inquiry until after admission decisions are made and give applicants a chance to explain their circumstances. The Department of Education will provide training and technical assistance to colleges to implement these practices and will establish a resource center to share best practices and research on supporting students with criminal or juvenile justice histories. No specific funding amount or implementation timeline is specified in the bill.

Take Action

Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.