BILL NUMBER: S4187
SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to early decision admis-
sions data for higher education institutions
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To require colleges who use early decision admissions to report on the
impact of such admissions
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of this bill adds a new article 129-c to the Education Law
to require higher education institutions which offer early decision
admissions to report on:
- Deadlines by which prospective students must apply early decision,
early action, and/or general admissions to the college, and when they
can generally expect to hear back
-The overall acceptance rate for first-year students vs. students admit-
ted early decision, early action, or general admissions, including total
number of applications received - The number of first-year students
admitted under each type of admissions plan and percentage that they
make up of the first-year class
- The racial and/or ethnic identity of prospective vs. accepted
students, and which type of admissions plan the students were accepted
under
- How many first-year students received federal Pell grants, disaggre-
gated by type of admissions plan
- Total and average amounts of financial aid disbursed to students in
each type of admissions plan
- Whether full financial need is met for students applying early deci-
sion
- The median and average income of first-year students, disaggregated by
type of admissions plan
- What type of high school first-year students attended, and whether it
is in state, out-of-state, or abroad, disaggregated by type of admis-
sions plan other applicants. One study found that the single strongest
predictor of whether or not a student was likely to apply ED was whether
they had hired a college admissions consultant, and the share of Black
students who apply ED is almost half of those in the regular admissions
pool. While some schools commit to meeting the full financial need of
the ED applicants they accept, most do not. And while colleges will
claim that students can back out of an ED offer and incur no financial
penalty, the fact remains that the majority of students and parents are
largely unaware of this exception - and the schools, for obvious
reasons, are loath to advertise it.
This bill requires all colleges in New York who use early decision
admissions to report how much of their class they are filling from the
ED vs. regular admissions pool, acceptance rates for ED vs. regular
admissions, the aggregate Pell status and median incomes of ED vs.
general admissions students, and average financial aid disbursed for ED
vs. general admissions students. While the US Department of Education
has the ability to collect and disaggregate admissions data such as this
across a range of categories, it does not currently do so. And while the
Common Data Set survey, meanwhile, which is an attempt by the College
Board, Peterson's, and the U.S. News & World Report to get colleges to
report a wealth of admissions information, contains a category on early
decisions, several notable institutions leave it conspicuously blank.
In a world in which selective colleges fill more than half their first-
year classes by early January, the average student may have virtually no
shot at being admitted to some of our state's most celebrated insti-
tutions. A snapshot into exactly which types of students are applying ED
and how colleges use it to shape their classes will be an invaluable
tool for policymakers and the public. It will spur important debates
about who benefits from the status quo, who is left behind, and how we
can design a better system to uplift all students in the college admis-
sions process.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
2024: S8118 - Passed Senate, died in Assembly
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law and shall apply to academic years commencing on and after
such date.