I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2720 
To require institutions of higher education to report annually on the use 
of race, color, or national origin in the admissions process. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 10, 2015 
Mr. KING of Iowa introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To require institutions of higher education to report annually 
on the use of race, color, or national origin in the admis-
sions process. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sunshine in Academic 
Admissions Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Citizens and taxpayers have a right to know 
whether federally funded institutions of higher edu-
cation are treating student applications differently 
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depending on the student’s race, color, or national 
origin, and, if so, the way in which these factors are 
weighted and the consequences to students and pro-
spective students of these decisions. 
(2) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 
codified this right, forbidding in statute discrimina-
tion on the basis of race, color, or national origin by 
federally funded institutions, which includes nearly 
all colleges and universities. 
(3) This prohibition has largely been ignored by 
the Supreme Court, which has allowed racially dis-
criminatory admissions. 
(4) However, in Fisher v. University of Texas, 
the United States Supreme Court in 2013 affirmed 
that strict scrutiny should be applied to university 
admissions programs to ensure diversity is not de-
fined as ‘‘mere racial balancing,’’ but has a compel-
ling state interest to achieve diversity. The Fisher 
case clarified that any such discrimination is only 
permitted if it is necessary to achieve the edu-
cational benefits of a racially diverse student body. 
(5) Therefore, colleges and universities must re-
evaluate their use of racially selective admissions 
policies. The costs of such policies cannot outweigh 
the supposed benefits. If a less discriminatory means 
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could achieve similar results, the discrimination is 
not permissible. 
(6) In order to ensure that these limitations are 
followed, colleges and federally funded institutions of 
higher education must make public through annual 
reports their use of race, color, and national origin, 
for admissions decisions so that Federal and State 
enforcement agencies and interested persons can 
monitor the schools. 
(7) Additionally, college and universities must 
provide evidence sufficient to demonstrate that any 
such discrimination does not exceed the limits im-
posed by the Fisher case. 
(8) Academic ‘‘mismatch’’ refers to a signifi-
cant discrepancy in academic qualifications between 
various groups within a student body, and is encour-
aged when universities lower their academic stand-
ards to artificially achieve a particular composition. 
(9) Mismatch works a harm because it sets par-
ticular students up for lower than average achieve-
ment, higher dropout rates, less competitive majors 
and, perhaps most damaging, a disproportionately 
large student loan burden. 
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SEC. 3. REPORT ON CONSIDERATION OF RACE, COLOR, OR 
NATIONAL ORIGIN IN STUDENT ADMISSIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 
each institution of higher education participating in pro-
grams under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
shall submit to the Secretary of Education a report in ac-
cordance with this section. 
(b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.— 
(1) DISCLOSURE OF CONSIDERATION OF RACE, 
COLOR, OR NATIONAL ORIGIN IN STUDENT ADMIS-
SIONS.—The report shall include a statement indi-
cating whether race, color, or national origin is given 
weight in the student admissions process of the in-
stitution or any department of the institution. 
(2) ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURES.—If the disclo-
sure under paragraph (1) states that race, color, or 
national origin is given weight in the student admis-
sions process of an institution or department, then 
the report shall include the following information 
with respect to the institution or department: 
(A) The racial, color, and national origin 
groups for which membership is considered a 
plus factor or a minus factor and, in addition, 
how membership in a group is determined for 
individual students. 
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(B) A description of how group member-
ship is considered, including the weight given to 
such consideration and whether targets, goals, 
or quotas are used. 
(C) A statement explaining why group 
membership is given weight, including the de-
termination of the desired level claimed and, 
with respect to the diversity rationale, its rela-
tionship to the particular educational mission of 
the institution or department. 
(D) A description of the consideration that 
has been given to racially neutral or less dis-
criminatory alternatives as a means for achiev-
ing the same goals for which group membership 
is considered. 
(E) A description of how frequently the 
need to give weight to group membership is re-
assessed and how that reassessment is con-
ducted. 
(F) An identification of the factors other 
than race, color, or national origin that are col-
lected in the admissions process. If the factors 
described in the preceding sentence include 
grades or class rank in high school, scores on 
standardized tests (including the ACT and 
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SAT), legacy status, sex, State residency, eco-
nomic status, or other quantifiable criteria, 
then all raw admissions data for applicants re-
garding these factors, along with each indi-
vidual applicant’s race, color, and national ori-
gin and the admissions decision made by the 
school regarding that applicant, shall accom-
pany the report in computer-readable form, 
with the name of the individual student re-
dacted but with appropriate links, so that it is 
possible for the Secretary of Education or other 
interested persons to determine through statis-
tical analysis the weight being given to race, 
color, and national origin, relative to other fac-
tors. 
(G) An analysis, and also the underlying 
data needed to perform an analysis, of whether 
there is a correlation— 
(i) between membership in a group fa-
vored on account of race, color, or national 
origin and the likelihood of enrollment in a 
remediation program, relative to member-
ship in other groups; 
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(ii) between such membership and 
graduation rates, relative to membership in 
other groups; and 
(iii) between such membership and the 
likelihood of defaulting on education loans, 
relative to membership in other groups. 
(c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The institution shall 
make the report publicly available. 
SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to allow or 
permit preference or discrimination on the basis of race, 
color, or national origin. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITION. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘institution of higher edu-
cation’’ has the meaning given the term in section 102 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002), 
except that the term does not include an institution of 
higher education outside the United States. 
Æ 
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