Kaine, Young, Colleagues Reintroduce Bill to End Legacy Admissions

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, along with Senators Todd Young (R-IN), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Tim Scott (R-SC), Andy Kim (D-NJ), and John Kennedy (R-LA), introduced the Merit-Based Educational Reforms and Institutional Transparency (MERIT) Act, bipartisan legislation that would end the longstanding practice of colleges and universities giving "preferential treatment" in the admissions process based on an applicant's relationship to alumni or donors of the deciding institution. The senators first introduced the legislation in 2023.

"Everyone deserves the same opportunity to pursue higher education if they choose. It shouldn't be dependent on whether someone's parents went to college or donated money to a university," said Kaine. "I'm glad to be introducing this bipartisan bill to provide Americans of all backgrounds the same chance to pursue higher education and help ensure first-generation and low-income students are not at a disadvantage during the admissions process."

Specifically, the MERIT Act would amend the Higher Education Act to:

• Add a new standard for accreditation to prevent accredited colleges and universities from giving "preferential treatment" to applicants during the admissions process.
• Clarify that new admissions standards should not be construed to prevent institutions from considering an applicant's genuine interest in the institution as part of the admissions process.
• Ensure that institutions can make admissions decisions in line with their faith-based values, ensuring no infringement on religious freedom.
• Require a comprehensive feasibility study to assess improving data collection regarding the influence of legacy and donor relationships on admissions decisions.

Full text of the legislation is available here.

###