Resources
Additional Information
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Incident Nature:
Other
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Incident Political Orientation:
Not Clear -
Incident Responses:
Other
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Incident Status:
No litigation
- Did not involve Speech Codes
Summary
On May 14, 2026, Utah’s Higher Education Student Belief Accommodation Act (HB 204) took effect statewide, requiring public colleges and universities to provide a process for students to request accommodations when a course requirement or academic activity conflicted with a sincerely held religious or moral belief. The law was enacted during the Utah Legislature’s 2025 General Session. HB 204 was introduced in the Utah House of Representatives on January 21, 2025, passed the House on February 14, 2025, and passed the Utah Senate on March 5, 2025. The bill was signed into law on March 25, 2025.
HB 204 required each public institution of higher education to establish policies and procedures through which a student could request an accommodation based on a sincerely held religious or moral belief. A student was required to submit the request according to the institution’s established process. Requests could apply to course requirements, classroom participation, or assignments that the student asserted conflicted with the student’s belief. If an institution determined that a requirement substantially burdened a student’s sincerely held religious or moral belief, the institution was required to consider providing a reasonable accommodation.
The law permitted institutions to provide an alternative assignment, project, or activity that addressed course requirements while avoiding the activity or expression that conflicted with the student’s belief. Any accommodation was required to allow the student to meet the learning objectives of the course or program. Institutions were not required to grant a request if no reasonable accommodation would allow the student to meet the academic requirements or essential learning objectives of the course or program, and the law did not require institutions to lower academic standards.
The legislation drew responses from higher education organizations, faculty, and free expression groups. PEN America stated that the bill could allow students to refuse coursework and warned it threatened academic freedom. The American Association of University Professors and faculty members at Utah institutions raised concerns that the measure could interfere with course design and place additional demands on instructors. Some university officials stated that institutions would be required to create procedures to review requests and determine whether an alternative assignment could meet course learning objectives. Supporters of the legislation, including the bill’s sponsors and advocacy organizations supporting religious liberty protections, stated that the law was intended to protect students from being required to complete coursework that violated their sincerely held beliefs while allowing institutions to maintain academic standards.
