# 119-s-5573: Religious Education Fairness Act

119-s-5573, Religious Education Fairness Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-16).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5573
- As of: 2026-10-16
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-5573
- Congress: 119
- Title: Religious Education Fairness Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-09-29
- Sponsor: Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Education
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-16

## Summary

**Protects Title IV aid eligibility for certain religious studies programs.** This bill would carve out programs coded as Theology and Religious Vocations or Philosophy and Religious Studies from the Higher Education Act's low-earnings ineligibility rule, but only for institutions that meet the statutory religious exemption. - Students in those programs would keep access to federal student aid even if their programs show low post-graduation earnings. This preserves aid eligibility for people enrolled in those specific religious programs. - Religiously affiliated colleges and universities that qualify for the Education Amendments religious exemption would be able to maintain Title IV eligibility for the specified programs. This reduces the risk those programs face of losing federal aid based on earnings metrics. - Implementation hinges on Classification of Instructional Programs codes maintained by the National Center for Education Statistics and on existing religious exemption rules in federal law and regulations. This ties the carve-out to established program codes and exemption criteria.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX] (R-TX), 2026-09-29T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Protect federal aid for religious programs: benefit, high. If enacted, this bill would stop a Title IV rule from making some religious-study programs ineligible for federal student aid because of low graduate earnings. The exemption would apply only to programs listed as "Theology and Religious Vocations" or "Philosophy and Religious Studies" in the NCES C…

## Related bills

- 119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
- 119-s-524: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025
- 119-s-3923: Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026
- 119-s-370: Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act
- 119-s-3752: SAVE America Act
- 119-s-5025: Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026

## Sources
- [119-s-5573 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/5573)

## Related
- [119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1071)
- [119-s-524: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-524)
- [119-s-3923: Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3923)
- [119-s-370: Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-370)
- [119-s-3752: SAVE America Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3752)
- [119-s-5025: Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5025)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5573 (as of 2026-10-16).