Requires colleges and universities to report to the commissioner of education certain information relating to admission plans including early action, early decision and general admission.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5551
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JACKSON, RAGA -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to early decision admis-
sions data for higher education institutions
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Title 7 of the education law is amended by adding a new
2 article 129-C to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 129-C
4 EARLY DECISION ADMISSIONS DATA FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
5 Section 6450. Early decision admissions data for higher education insti-
6 tutions.
7 § 6450. Early decision admissions data for higher education insti-
8 tutions. 1. Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms
9 shall have the following meanings:
10 (a) "Acceptance rate" shall mean the percentage of applicants a higher
11 education institution accepts, computed by dividing the accepted number
12 of applicants by the total number of applicants and multiplying such
13 quotient by one hundred.
14 (b) "Academic year" shall be as defined in subdivision five of section
15 six hundred fifty-one of this chapter.
16 (c) "Drop-down menu" shall refer to a graphical control element that
17 allows a user of a website to choose one value from a list.
18 (d) "Early action" shall mean an admissions plan that allows a student
19 to apply at an earlier stage of the admissions process and receive an
20 expedited admissions decision but does not require such student to
21 commit to attend such institution upon receiving a decision of admit-
22 tance.
23 (e) "Early decision" shall mean an admissions plan that allows a
24 student to apply at an earlier stage of the admission process and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05361-01-5
A. 5551 2
1 receive an expedited admissions decision that requires such student to
2 commit to attend a higher education institution should such student be
3 admitted and to withdraw all other applications to other higher educa-
4 tion institutions. Early decision shall not include early action.
5 (f) "Estimated cost of attendance" shall mean the total amount, not
6 including grants and scholarships, that it costs to attend a higher
7 education institution, which may include, among other expenses, tuition
8 and fees, housing and meals, allowances for books, supplies, and trans-
9 portation, and dependent care.
10 (g) "Federal Pell grant" shall refer to the grants disbursed to
11 students pursuant to 20 U.S.C. § 1070.
12 (h) "Full financial need" shall mean that the aid a student receives
13 from the higher education institution fully covers the estimated cost of
14 attendance.
15 (i) "General admission" shall mean an admissions plan for which
16 students do not apply at an earlier stage of the admissions process and
17 receive an expedited admissions decision. General admission shall not
18 include early action.
19 (j) "Higher education institution" shall mean any four-year institu-
20 tion given the power to confer undergraduate degrees in this state by
21 the board of regents as provided in section two hundred eighteen of this
22 chapter but shall not include institutions offering career education, as
23 defined in subdivision twenty-four of section two of this chapter,
24 professional and/or technical schools, or educational work connected
25 with libraries, museums, university and educational extension courses
26 and similar agencies.
27 (k) "Income" shall refer to the adjusted gross income used to deter-
28 mine the amount of federal Pell grant paid by the secretary of education
29 under 20 U.S.C. § 1070a or otherwise reported to the higher education
30 institution.
31 (l) "Independent" shall refer to a high school that does not receive
32 public funding and is governed by a board of governors or trustees.
33 (m) "Private" shall refer to a high school that does not receive
34 public funding.
35 (n) "Type of admission plan" shall refer to early decision, early
36 action, and general admission.
37 2. Requirement for data reporting. All higher education institutions
38 in this state who employ early decision admissions shall report to the
39 commissioner, on or before the first of July of each year, the following
40 data:
41 (a) the deadlines by which prospective students must apply for early
42 decision, early action, and/or general admission at the institution;
43 (b) the timelines when early decision, early action, and/or general
44 admission prospective students can generally expect to receive an admis-
45 sions decision from the institution;
46 (c) the overall acceptance rate for first-year students in the prior
47 academic year, including total number of applications received;
48 (d) the acceptance rate for early decision, early action, and general
49 admissions for first-year students in the prior academic year, including
50 total number of applications received for each type of admissions plan
51 and disaggregated by type of admission plan such students were accepted
52 under;
53 (e) the number and percentage of first-year students admitted early
54 decision, early action, and general admissions in the prior academic
55 year, disaggregated by type of admission plan such students were
56 accepted under;
A. 5551 3
1 (f) the racial and/or ethnic identity of all prospective students who
2 applied for the first-year class of the prior academic year, as reported
3 by such students;
4 (g) the racial and/or ethnic identity of all first-year students of
5 the prior academic year, as reported by such students, who were accepted
6 under an early decision, early action, or general admissions plan, by
7 number and percentage, and disaggregated by type of admissions plan such
8 students were accepted under;
9 (h) how many first-year students, by number and percentage, of the
10 prior academic year received federal Pell grants, disaggregated by type
11 of admission plan such students were accepted under;
12 (i) the amount of financial aid disbursed for the first-year students
13 of the prior academic year, disaggregated by type of admission plan such
14 students were accepted under;
15 (j) average financial aid disbursed for the first-year students of the
16 prior academic year, disaggregated by type of admission plan such
17 students were accepted under;
18 (k) whether full financial need was met for first-year students of the
19 prior academic year admitted early decision;
20 (l) the median and average income of first-year students of the prior
21 academic year, disaggregated by type of admission plan such students
22 were accepted under;
23 (m) how many first-year students, by number and percentage, of the
24 prior academic year attended a public, charter, private, or independent
25 high school, or were homeschooled, disaggregated by type of admission
26 plan such students were accepted under;
27 (n) how many first-year students, by number and percentage, of the
28 prior academic year attended high school in this state, another state,
29 district, or territory of the United States, or another nation, disag-
30 gregated by type of admission plan such students were accepted under;
31 and
32 (o) a detailed description of a prospective student's commitment to
33 the institution upon applying early decision, including potential conse-
34 quences, if any, if such student rescinds upon a commitment to attend
35 such institution after receiving a decision of admittance.
36 3. Requirement for data publishing. (a) The commissioner shall, on or
37 before the first of September of each year, publish the data required
38 under subdivision two of this section in a clear and prominent location
39 on the department's website.
40 (b) The commissioner shall ensure that a user of such website is easi-
41 ly able to access the college admissions data described in subdivision
42 two of this section for each higher education institution which reports
43 such data via a drop-down menu on such website.
44 4. Penalties. (a) Any higher education institution deemed by the
45 commissioner to willfully violate the provisions of this section shall
46 be subject to a civil penalty equivalent to ten percent of state aid, as
47 provided in section six thousand two hundred twenty-one of this title
48 for senior colleges of the city university of New York, article eight of
49 this title for the state university of New York, and section six thou-
50 sand four hundred one of this title for certain independent institutions
51 of higher education, received in the prior fiscal year.
52 (b) The commissioner shall maintain the discretion to provide an
53 opportunity for a higher education institution to cure a violation of
54 this section before levying the fines described in paragraph (a) of this
55 subdivision.
A. 5551 4
1 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
2 have become a law and shall apply to academic years commencing on and
3 after such date. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
4 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
5 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
6 on or before such effective date.
