II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1732 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide rules for the 

disallowance and recapture of certain charitable contributions to colleges 

and universities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 5, 2019 

Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

rules for the disallowance and recapture of certain charitable contributions to colleges and universities, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘College Admissions 

5 Fairness Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CHARITABLE CONTRIBU2 TIONS TO COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 170(f) of the Internal 

4 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(19) DENIAL OF DEDUCTION AND RECAPTURE

7 FOR CERTAIN CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO COL8 LEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In any taxable year in 

10 which the taxpayer is a restricted contributor— 

11 ‘‘(i) the deduction under subsection 

12 (a) shall be reduced (but not below zero) 

13 by the disallowed amount, and 

14 ‘‘(ii) any disallowed amount that ex15 ceeds the amount of the reduction under 

16 clause (i) shall be included in the income 

17 of such restricted contributor in such tax18 able year. 

19 ‘‘(B) RESTRICTED CONTRIBUTOR.—For 

20 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘restricted 

21 contributor’ means, with respect to any taxable 

22 year, any individual— 

23 ‘‘(i) who made any specified contribu24 tion to a specified college or university or 

25 to any related organization of such speciVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1732.IS S1732

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1 fied college or university during the appli2 cable period, and 

3 ‘‘(ii) who has an applicable child who 

4 is enrolled at such specified college or uni5 versity during such taxable year. 

6 ‘‘(C) DISALLOWED AMOUNT.—For pur7 poses of this paragraph, with respect to any 

8 specified college or university for any taxable 

9 year, the disallowed amount is the amount 

10 equal to the excess (if any) of— 

11 ‘‘(i) the amount of specified contribu12 tions of the taxpayer to such specified col13 lege or university during the applicable pe14 riod, over 

15 ‘‘(ii) the sum of— 

16 ‘‘(I) $100,000, plus 

17 ‘‘(II) the aggregate amount of 

18 the reductions under subparagraph 

19 (A)(i) and inclusions under subpara20 graph (A)(ii) for all taxable years in 

21 the applicable period preceding the 

22 taxable year for which the determina23 tion is being made. 

24 ‘‘(D) SPECIFIED CONTRIBUTION.—For 

25 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘specified 


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1 contribution’ means, with respect to any speci2 fied college or university at which an applicable 

3 child of a restricted contributor is enrolled dur4 ing the taxable year— 

5 ‘‘(i) any contribution for which a de6 duction is allowed under this section (or 

7 would have been allowed but for this para8 graph or subsection (b)) and which is 

9 made, directly or indirectly, during the ap10 plicable period to such specified college or 

11 university or to any related organization 

12 by— 

13 ‘‘(I) the restricted contributor, or 

14 ‘‘(II) a partnership, corporation, 

15 trust, or other entity for the benefit of 

16 or at the direction of the restricted 

17 contributor, 

18 ‘‘(ii) any contribution which is made 

19 during the applicable period to such speci20 fied college or university or to any related 

21 organization by— 

22 ‘‘(I) a donor advised fund (as de23 fined in section 4966(d)(2)) with re24 spect to which the restricted contribVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1732.IS S1732

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1 utor is a person described in section 

2 4966(d)(2)(A)(iii), or 

3 ‘‘(II) a private foundation with 

4 respect to which the restricted con5 tributor is a disqualified person (as 

6 defined in section 4946(a)), and 

7 ‘‘(iii) any legally binding pledge which 

8 is made during the applicable period to 

9 such specified college or university or to 

10 any related organization by a person de11 scribed in clause (i) or (ii). 

12 ‘‘(E) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes 

13 of this subsection, the term ‘applicable period’ 

14 means, with respect to any taxable year, the 6- 

15 year period ending with the last day of the tax16 able year. 

17 ‘‘(F) APPLICABLE CHILD.—For purposes 

18 of this subsection, the term ‘applicable child’ 

19 means, with respect to any restricted contrib20 utor, any individual who bears a relationship to 

21 such restricted contributor that is described in 

22 section 152(c)(2)(A). 

23 ‘‘(G) SPECIFIED COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY; 

24 RELATED ORGANIZATION.—For purposes of this 

25 section— 


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1 ‘‘(i) SPECIFIED COLLEGE OR UNIVER2 SITY.—The term ‘specified college or uni3 versity’ means any institution of higher 

4 education (as defined in section 101 of the 

5 Higher Education Act of 1965) other than 

6 an institution which— 

7 ‘‘(I) has a written policy that 

8 prohibits as a factor in admissions de9 cisions the consideration of— 

10 ‘‘(aa) direct or indirect do11 nations from an applicant or 

12 family member of an applicant, 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(bb) the financial ability of 

15 an applicant or family member of 

16 an applicant to make a donation, 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(II) demonstrates to the satis19 faction of the Secretary that such pol20 icy is properly enforced. 

21 ‘‘(ii) RELATED ORGANIZATION.—The 

22 term ‘related organization’ means, with re23 spect to any specified college or university, 

24 an organization which— 


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1 ‘‘(I) controls, or is controlled by, 

2 such specified college or university, 

3 ‘‘(II) is controlled by one or more 

4 persons which also control such speci5 fied college or university, or 

6 ‘‘(III) is a supported organization 

7 (as defined in section 509(f)(3)), or 

8 an organization described in section 

9 509(a)(3), during the taxable year 

10 with respect to such specified college 

11 or university. 

12 ‘‘(H) NO DOUBLE TAXATION.—Any speci13 fied contribution which is taken into account 

14 under subsection (a) with respect to an applica15 ble child for any taxable year shall not be taken 

16 into account with respect to another applicable 

17 child in any subsequent year. 

18 ‘‘(I) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

19 prescribe such regulations as may be necessary 

20 or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this 

21 paragraph, including regulations that provide 

22 for the proper treatment of legally binding 

23 pledges and other types of specified contribu24 tions.’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning 1 year 

3 or more after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 SEC. 3. INFORMATION TO BE COLLECTED. 

5 (a) PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENTS.—Sec6 tion 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

7 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(30) The institution has a written policy that 

10 prohibits as a factor in admissions decisions the con11 sideration of— 

12 ‘‘(A) direct or indirect donations from an 

13 applicant or family member of an applicant; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) the financial ability of an applicant or 

16 a family member of an applicant to make a do17 nation.’’. 

18 (b) TITLE IV AUDITS.—Section 487(c) of the Higher 

19 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(c)) is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(8) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this 

22 title, the Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as may 

23 be necessary to provide for a requirement that an eligible 

24 institution, in completing the compliance audit in accordVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:20 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1732.IS S1732

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1 ance with paragraph (1)(A), shall submit a copy of the 

2 written policy described in subsection (a)(30).’’. 

3 (c) DUTIES OF EDUCATION STATISTICS CENTER.— 

4 (1) HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.—Section 

5 132(i)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

6 U.S.C. 1015a(i)(1)) is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following: 

8 ‘‘(AA) With respect to students who are 

9 applicable children (as described in section 

10 170(f)(19)(F) of the Internal Revenue Code) of 

11 any person who has made a direct or indirect 

12 donation to the institution or a related organi13 zation (as defined in section 170(f)(19)(G)(ii) 

14 of such Code) during the 6-year period ending 

15 with the calendar year in which the student ap16 plied— 

17 ‘‘(i) the total number of such students 

18 who applied to the institution; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the total number of such stu20 dents who were admitted by the institu21 tion; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) the total number of such stu23 dents who enrolled at the institution.’’. 

24 (2) EDUCATION SCIENCES REFORM ACT OF

25 2002.—Section 153(a)(1) of the Education Sciences 


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1 Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9543(a)(1)) is 

2 amended— 

3 (A) in subparagraph (N), by striking 

4 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

5 (B) in subparagraph (O), by inserting 

6 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; and 

7 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(P) with respect to students who are ap9 plicable children (as described in section 

10 170(f)(19)(F) of the Internal Revenue Code) of 

11 any person who has made a direct or indirect 

12 donation to the institution or a related organi13 zation (as defined in section 170(f)(19)(G)(ii) 

14 of such Code) during the 6-year period ending 

15 with the calendar year in which the student ap16 plied— 

17 ‘‘(i) the total number of such students 

18 who applied to the institution; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the total number of such stu20 dents who were admitted by the institu21 tion; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) the total number of such stu23 dents who enrolled at the institution;’’. 


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1 (d) INSTITUTIONAL DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES.— 

2 Section 485(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

3 U.S.C. 1092(a)) is amended— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (U), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

5 after the semicolon; 

6 (2) in subparagraph (V), by striking the period 

7 and inserting a semicolon; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(W) the institution’s written policy that pro10 hibits as a factor in admissions decisions the consid11 eration of— 

12 ‘‘(i) direct or indirect donations from an 

13 applicant or family member of an applicant; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the financial ability of an applicant or 

16 a family member of an applicant to make a do17 nation; and 

18 ‘‘(X) with respect to students who are applica19 ble children (as described in section 170(f)(19)(F) of 

20 the Internal Revenue Code) of any person who has 

21 made a direct or indirect donation to the institution 

22 or a related organization (as defined in section 

23 170(f)(19)(G)(ii) of such Code) during the 6-year 

24 period ending with the calendar year in which the 

25 student applied— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the total number of such students who 

2 applied to the institution; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the total number of such students 

4 who were admitted by the institution; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) the total number of such students 

6 who enrolled at the institution.’’. 

7 (e) INFORMATION INCLUDED ON TAX INFORMATION

8 RETURNS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6033 of the Internal 

10 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating 

11 subsection (n) as subsection (o) and by inserting 

12 after subsection (m) the following new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(n) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR IN14 STITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—Every organiza15 tion which is an institution of higher education (as defined 

16 in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965) and 

17 required to file a return under subsection (a) shall include 

18 with such return— 

19 ‘‘(1) a copy of the written policy described in 

20 section 487(a)(30) of Higher Education Act of 

21 1965, and 

22 ‘‘(2) the information described in section 

23 132(i)(1)(AA) of such Act.’’. 

24 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

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1 able years beginning 1 year or more after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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