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S. 880

U.S. Senate•In Senate Committee

Summary

S. 880, the Fair College Admissions for Students Act, was introduced in the Senate on Mar 6, 2025 by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) with 2 co-sponsors. It was referred to Health, Education, Labor, And Pensions, and last saw action on Mar 19, 2026: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Hearings held.

Record

Text

S. 880 has 2 co-sponsors.

sb880/introduced-in-senate.txt
119 S880 IS: Fair College Admissions for Students Act
 U.S. Senate
 2025-03-06
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  S. 880  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   March 6, 2025   Mr. Merkley  (for himself,  Mr. Kennedy , and  Mr. Padilla ) 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)
The institution will not provide any manner of preferential treatment in the admission process to applicants on the basis of their relationships to—
(A)
donors to the institution; or
(B)
alumni of the institution.
 .
(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.

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2025-03-06
  2. Passed Senate
  3. Passed House
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

CRS Summary

The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.

Introduced in Senate Mar 6, 2025

sb880/introduced-in-senate.md

Shown Here:
Introduced in Senate (03/06/2025)

Fair College Admissions for Students Act

This bill prohibits an institution of higher education (IHE) that participates in federal student aid programs from giving preferential treatment in the admissions process to applicants based on their relationships to donors or alumni of the IHE.

Sponsors

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) sponsors S. 880, and 2 members have co-sponsored it, all of them from the day it was introduced.

Committees

S. 880 went before 1 committee: Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Hearings By (full committee) · Mar 19, 2026 · 747 Bills

Actions

S. 880 has taken 3 actions since Mar 6, 2025, the latest on Mar 19, 2026.

ChamberAction
Mar 19, 2026
Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Hearings held.Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
Mar 6, 2025
Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
Mar 6, 2025
—
Introduced in Senate

Votes

S. 880 has not gone to a roll call.

1 bill is related to S. 880, as Identical bill.

Titles

S. 880 goes by 3 titles, 1 of them short titles.

  • Fair College Admissions for Students Act — Display Title
  • Fair College Admissions for Students Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • 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. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

2 clients hired 2 firms and 9 registered lobbyists who named S. 880 in 3 quarterly filings, 2025 to 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Budget/Appropriations, Education, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Defense, Health Issues, Sports/Athletics, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Veterans.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION—District of Columbia12—
ALLIANCE FOR EXCELLENT EDUCATION—District of Columbia11—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION12—
ALLIANCE FOR EXCELLENT EDUCATION11—

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
ELIZA GONZALEZ112
EMMANUAL GUILLORY112
JONATHAN FANSMITH112
LINDSEY TEPE112
SARAH SPREITZER112
STEPHEN LAMB112
STEVEN BLOOM112
PHILLIP LOVELL111
REBECA SHACKLEFORD111

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATIONAMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION2026 first_quarter$77K1st Quarter - Report
ALLIANCE FOR EXCELLENT EDUCATIONALLIANCE FOR EXCELLENT EDUCATION2025 first_quarter$39.1K1st Quarter - Report
AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATIONAMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION2026 second_quarter$37.5K2nd Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files S. 880 under Education, one of its 31 policy areas, and gives it 4 legislative subjects.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; S. 880’s is Education.

s880/policy-areas.txt
EducationAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArmed Forces and National SecurityArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEmergency ManagementEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHealthHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTaxationTransportation and Public WorksWater Resources Development

Legislative Subjects

S. 880 carries 4 of CRS’s legislative subjects, from Government lending and loan guarantees to Student aid and college costs.

s880/subjects.txt
Government lending and loan guaranteesHigher educationSchool administrationStudent aid and college costs

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com