S. 3559 — Introduced in Senate

II 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3559 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 2, 2022Mr. Merkley (for himself and Mr. Casey) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit institutions of higher education participating in Federal student assistance programs from giving preferential treatment in the admissions process to legacy students or donors. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fair College Admissions for Students Act. 2. Ban on legacy or donor preferences in admissions (a) In general 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: (30) (A) The institution will not provide any manner of preferential treatment in the admission process to applicants on the basis of their relationships to— (i) donors to the institution; or (ii) except as provided in subparagraph (B), alumni of the institution. (B) The Secretary may waive the limitation described in subparagraph (A)(ii) for an award year for an eligible institution described in section 371(a) if such institution demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that preferential treatment in the admission process to applicants on the basis of their relationships to alumni of the institution is in the best interest of students who have been historically underrepresented in higher education. . (b) Effective date The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the first day of the second award year (as defined in section 481(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088(a))) that begins after the date of enactment of this Act.