Bill Text: NY S04170 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Enacts the "fair college admissions act"; prohibits legacy admissions policies at colleges and universities in New York; declares such policies and practices to be discriminatory and inequitable.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-03 - PRINT NUMBER 4170B [S04170 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S04170-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         4170--B

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    February 3, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sens. GOUNARDES, CHU, CLEARE, COMRIE, FERNANDEZ, HOYLMAN-
          SIGAL, JACKSON, MAY, MYRIE, RAMOS, SALAZAR, SEPULVEDA, SKOUFIS -- read
          twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to  the
          Committee  on  Higher Education -- committee discharged, bill amended,
          ordered reprinted as amended and  recommitted  to  said  committee  --
          recommitted  to  the  Committee on Higher Education in accordance with
          Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill  amended,  ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the education law, in relation to prohibiting legacy
          admission policies at higher education institutions in this state

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
     2  the "fair college admissions act".
     3    § 2. Legislative intent. a. The legislature hereby  finds  that  there
     4  are  significant  income  gains  associated with postsecondary education
     5  degree attainment, with New  York  state  residents  with  a  bachelor's
     6  degree three times less likely to live in poverty than those with a high
     7  school diploma.
     8    b. The legislature further finds that students who attend and graduate
     9  from a highly selective higher education institution in the state of New
    10  York  are  much  more likely to earn salaries in the top income quintile
    11  than those who graduate from  less  selective  institutions,  furthering
    12  economic and social inequality.
    13    c.  The  legislature  further  finds that within most highly selective
    14  higher education institutions in New York state, degree completion rates
    15  for students from low-income and working class  family  backgrounds  are
    16  comparable to students from upper-income family backgrounds.
    17    d.  The legislature further finds that many four-year higher education
    18  institutions in New York state consider whether a prospective student is
    19  related to alumni as part of the admissions process.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03099-10-4
        S. 4170--B                          2

     1    e. The legislature further finds that providing preferential treatment
     2  to students related to alumni  of  a  higher  education  institution  is
     3  discriminatory  in nature and disproportionately hurts students who come
     4  from working class and low-income families, have  parents  who  did  not
     5  earn  a  bachelor's  degree,  are  undocumented, are immigrants, and are
     6  members of historically underrepresented minority groups formerly denied
     7  entry into specific higher education institutions either as a matter  of
     8  institution  policy or the effect of historic underlying law and govern-
     9  ment practices.
    10    f. The legislature further finds that inequitable,  unfair  admissions
    11  policies  and  practices  such as legacy consideration are a significant
    12  factor behind disparities in  college  enrollment  among  students  from
    13  historically underserved racial and economic subgroups compared to their
    14  more advantaged peers at selective higher education institutions.
    15    g. The legislature hereby declares that a prohibition on legacy admis-
    16  sion  policies at degree-granting colleges and universities in the state
    17  shall further the goals of educational,  economic,  and  social  equity,
    18  helping   to  diversify  highly  selective  institutions  while  closing
    19  achievement  gaps  between  historically  advantaged  and  disadvantaged
    20  groups,  and  shall  commit  to  achieving  the  same with the following
    21  provisions of this act.
    22    § 3. The education law is amended by adding a  new  section  239-c  to
    23  read as follows:
    24    § 239-c. Prohibition on legacy admission policies. 1.  Definitions. As
    25  used in this section, the following terms shall have the following mean-
    26  ings:
    27    (a)  "Consider  alumni/ae  relation  as  a factor in admissions" shall
    28  refer to when an admissions  application  asks  applicants  to  indicate
    29  where  their  relatives  attended  college  and that such information is
    30  included among the documents that the higher education institution  uses
    31  to consider an applicant for admission.
    32    (b)  "Higher education institution" shall mean the state university of
    33  New York, as defined in subdivision one of section three hundred  fifty-
    34  two  of this chapter, the city university of New York, as established in
    35  section sixty-two hundred three of  this  chapter,  or  any  institution
    36  given  the power to confer degrees in this state by the board of regents
    37  as provided in section two hundred eighteen of this article.
    38    2. Prohibition. No higher education institution in  this  state  shall
    39  consider  alumni/ae relation as a factor in admissions.  A higher educa-
    40  tion institution shall be in compliance with this section if it  reason-
    41  ably  and  in  good faith redacts, suppresses, or otherwise removes such
    42  information on alumni/ae relation from the  documents  that  the  higher
    43  education institution uses to consider an applicant for admission.
    44    3. Penalty. If after providing notice and an opportunity for a hearing
    45  the  department  determines  that  a  higher  education  institution has
    46  engaged in a knowing pattern or practice of violating this section, then
    47  such institution may be liable for a civil penalty not to  exceed  fifty
    48  thousand dollars.
    49    §  4.  This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
    50  the date on which it shall have become a law.  Effective immediately the
    51  addition, amendment, and/or repeal of any rule or  regulation  necessary
    52  for  the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized
    53  to be made and completed on or before such effective date.