The Campus Free Speech Restoration Act amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to strengthen protections for student expressive activities at institutions of higher education. It establishes distinct requirements for public and private universities receiving federal financial assistance, aiming to prevent undue restrictions on student speech.

For public institutions, the bill asserts that students should be free to express opinions without diminishing their civil liberties. It declares that free speech zones, restrictive speech codes, and bias reporting systems are inherently at odds with First Amendment guarantees. Public institutions are prohibited from restricting lawful noncommercial expressive activity in generally accessible areas, except under narrowly defined, content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions.

The bill creates a federal cause of action, allowing the Attorney General or individuals to sue public institutions for violations, seeking injunctions and damages, including a minimum of $500 for initial violations. Furthermore, the Secretary of Education is empowered to review public institutions' speech policies through a multi-stage complaint process. Institutions found to be out of compliance with First Amendment standards or the bill's restrictions on speech regulation risk losing eligibility for federal funding, with a grace period provided for remediation.

For private institutions, the bill focuses on transparency and accountability regarding their speech policies. These institutions must conspicuously post all policies pertaining to student expressive rights on their websites and include them in new student handbooks. They must also provide a statement affirming full disclosure of these policies.

Students at private institutions can bring a cause of action in federal court if the institution violates its own published policies regarding expressive rights, seeking injunctions and damages. The Secretary of Education is also tasked with investigating complaints that private institutions have failed to disclose required policies or are enforcing undisclosed ones. Non-compliant private institutions face a grace period to rectify issues, after which they may lose eligibility for federal funding, with an exemption for institutions controlled by religious organizations.