A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the standards for accreditation of an institution of higher education to assess the institution’s adoption of admissions practices that refrain from preferential treatment in admissions based on an applicant’s relationship to alumni of, or donors to, the institution, to authorize a feasibility study on data collection, and for other purposes.
Key claim: S5116 would amend the Higher Education Act so accreditation standards must assess whether colleges refrain from admissions preferences for alumni relatives and donors, and would authorize a feasibility study on related data collection.
Abstract
(S5116 · 119th Congress) Latest action (2026-07-23): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Why this matters
The bill would use accreditation — a gatekeeper for federal student aid eligibility — as the enforcement lever against legacy and donor admissions preferences, shifting the issue from voluntary institutional policy to a compliance question for accreditors and colleges. For students, this could alter admissions dynamics at selective institutions; for institutions, it would create a new standard accreditors must evaluate and a potential federal data-collection regime on legacy/donor practices.