PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Miller, Max L. [R-OH-7] · R–OH
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Oct 16, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
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Analyze H.R.10786 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.10786 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.10786 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.10786 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.
PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-10-09 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Civic Literacy in Higher Education Act would require covered colleges and other higher-education institutions to make students who are U.S. citizens by birth demonstrate requirements referenced in immigration law before graduating. The requirement would apply to any program of study, with an exception for a statutory category of institutions. A faculty member would supervise, and students could not use books or notes.
This Act may be cited as the Civic Literacy in Higher Education Act.
The institution (other than an institution described in section 102(a)(2)) will require as a condition of graduation from any program of study at the institution that a student who is a citizen of the United States on the basis of birth demonstrate the requirements under section 312 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1423)
(A) proctored by a faculty member of the institution; and (B) without access to any books or notes.
Section 2 would add a graduation requirement to section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965. It expressly covers students who are U.S. citizens by birth and incorporates the requirements of section 312 of the Immigration and Nationality Act without reproducing them.
Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
will require as a condition of graduation from any program of study at the institution that a student who is a citizen of the United States on the basis of birth demonstrate the requirements under section 312 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1423)
The demonstration would have to be supervised by a faculty member of the student's institution, without access to books or notes.
in a manner that is— (A) proctored by a faculty member of the institution; and (B) without access to any books or notes.
Institutions described in section 102(a)(2) would be exempt from the proposed graduation requirement. The bill does not reproduce the definition of that institutional category.
The institution (other than an institution described in section 102(a)(2)) will require as a condition of graduation
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated October 16, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Education and Workforce on October 9, 2026.
Source snapshot updated 2026-10-16T18:49:37Z. 2026-10-09: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. 2026-10-09: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-10-09. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The text contains an express institutional exemption from its main requirement. Missing statutory context limits assessment of the exemption's scope.
Institutions described in section 102(a)(2) would be exempt from imposing the proposed graduation requirement. This gives a defined statutory class different treatment under the bill's central policy, although the supplied text does not identify which institutions belong to that class.
The institution (other than an institution described in section 102(a)(2)) will require as a condition of graduation from any program of study at the institution that a student who is a citizen of the United States on the basis of birth demonstrate the requirements under section 312 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1423)
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Oct 16, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI