S3232-118

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Merit-based Educational Reforms and Institutional Transparency Act or the MERIT Act.

2. Assessment of admissions practices Section 496(a)(5) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b(a)(5)) is amended— by redesignating subparagraphs (G), (H), (I), and (J), as subparagraphs (H), (I), (J), and (K), respectively; by inserting after subparagraph (F) the following: adoption of admissions practices that refrain from any manner of preferential treatment in the admission process to applicants on the basis of the applicant's relationship to— alumni of the institution; or donors to the institution; in subparagraph (H), as redesignated under subparagraph (A), by striking and admissions; and in the flush matter at the end, by striking subparagraphs (A), (H), and (J) and inserting subparagraphs (A), (I), and (K). Section 496 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b) is amended by adding at the end the following: For the purpose of subsection (a)(5)(G), the term preferential treatment means making an admissions decision or awarding tangible education benefits where an applicant’s relationship with an alumni of, or donor to, the deciding institution serves as the determinative factor. Section 496(p) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b(p)) is amended— by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and moving the margins of such subparagraphs (as so redesignated) 2 ems to the right; by striking Nothing in subsection (a)(5) shall be construed to restrict the ability of and inserting the following: Nothing in subsection (a)(5) shall be construed to restrict the ability of by adding at the end of the following: Nothing in subparagraph (G) of subsection (a)(5) shall be construed to prevent institutions from considering the demonstrated interest of an applicant as a factor in admissions decisions if— the criteria for assessing demonstrated interest are clearly defined and made publicly available; the applicant is provided the opportunity to explain why they have a demonstrated interest in the institution, which may be informed by lived experiences, values, attributes, and faith; and the opportunities to demonstrate interest are equally accessible to all applicants, regardless of their financial resources, alumni affiliation, or donor affiliation. Nothing in subparagraph (G) of subsection (a)(5) shall be construed to inhibit the right of a religious institution to make admissions decisions consistent with the institution's faith-based values. Not later than 180 days after the date of completion of the negotiated rulemaking process under section 492 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1098a) with respect to the amendments made by this section, and biennially thereafter, the Secretary of Education shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives a report that identifies the efforts taken to ensure compliance with the requirements of this section and the amendments made by this section, including— any technical assistance the Secretary has provided; any regulatory guidance the Secretary has issued; and any compliance monitoring the Secretary has conducted. Each report described under paragraph (1) shall be made available to the public. (G)adoption of admissions practices that refrain from any manner of preferential treatment in the admission process to applicants on the basis of the applicant's relationship to—(i)alumni of the institution; or(ii)donors to the institution;; (r)Preferential treatmentFor the purpose of subsection (a)(5)(G), the term preferential treatment means making an admissions decision or awarding tangible education benefits where an applicant’s relationship with an alumni of, or donor to, the deciding institution serves as the determinative factor.. (1)In generalNothing in subsection (a)(5) shall be construed to restrict the ability of; and (2)Demonstrated interestNothing in subparagraph (G) of subsection (a)(5) shall be construed to prevent institutions from considering the demonstrated interest of an applicant as a factor in admissions decisions if—(A)the criteria for assessing demonstrated interest are clearly defined and made publicly available;(B)the applicant is provided the opportunity to explain why they have a demonstrated interest in the institution, which may be informed by lived experiences, values, attributes, and faith; and(C)the opportunities to demonstrate interest are equally accessible to all applicants, regardless of their financial resources, alumni affiliation, or donor affiliation. (3)Faith-based institutionsNothing in subparagraph (G) of subsection (a)(5) shall be construed to inhibit the right of a religious institution to make admissions decisions consistent with the institution's faith-based values..

3. Feasibility study to improve data collection Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall explore the feasibility of working with the National Student Clearinghouse to establish a third-party method to collect and produce institution-level analysis of data on the impact of an admissions decision based on an applicant’s relationship with an alumni of, or donor to, the deciding institution, and how such data reported to the National Student Clearinghouse could be secured, while considering the following: Whether data reported to the National Student Clearinghouse can accurately capture the impact and prevalence of admitting students with alumni or donor affiliations at various institutions. Whether institutions have clear and defined policies regarding admitting students with alumni or donor affiliations that can be transparently reported to the National Student Clearinghouse. Whether this new data stream can be integrated with reporting to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) while ensuring that the quality of data remains consistent or improves compared to the data provided through IPEDS. Whether reporting this new data might alter the current interaction between institutions and the National Student Clearinghouse. Whether reporting such data can maintain confidentiality, especially regarding private donations and donor identities, while still producing accurate measures of institutional practices. Whether the National Student Clearinghouse can satisfy data reporting requirements without transferring any disaggregated data that would be personally identifiable to the Department of Education. Whether the data can be reported in such a way that it separates students with familial ties to alumni from those admitted due to direct donor affiliations. Whether there’s a distinction in admissions criteria for legacy and donor-affiliated applicants compared to traditional applicants. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the development of a nationwide database of personally identifiable information on individuals involved in studies or other collections of data under this Act or an amendment made by this Act.