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Higher Education Subcommittee advances bill barring race‑based scholarship or admissions criteria
Summary
The committee voted to add an amendment and forwarded House Bill 377, which would prohibit institutions from basing admissions or scholarship amounts solely on race, color, ethnicity or national origin, to the full House Education Committee by a 4‑0 vote.
The Higher Education Subcommittee voted 4‑0 on March 12 to place House Bill 377 on the committee’s calendar for the full House Education Committee after adopting an amendment.
Sponsor Speaker Zachary told the subcommittee the amendment (drafting code 5149) was developed in consultation with the Tennessee Board of Regents, the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University. "This amendment does make the bill and is in consultation with TBR, UT and Vandy," Speaker Zachary said. "This legislation prohibits a person from being excluded from participating in, being denied the benefits of or being subjected to discrimination by an institution or any program or activity at that institution. It prohibits financial aid scholarship awards or amounts from being solely based on race, color, ethnicity, or national origin."
The sponsor clarified the restriction applies to admissions and scholarships only. After brief handling and a voice vote to adopt the amendment, the subcommittee proceeded to a recorded vote on the bill. The clerk reported a 4‑aye, 0‑nay tally; the chairman announced, "House Bill 377 moves out to full education."
No statutory citations or implementing language were read into the record during the subcommittee discussion; committee members did not request additional fiscal or implementation detail at the time of the vote.
The bill will next appear on the full House Education Committee calendar for further consideration.
