S. 5116 119th Congress Senate

MERIT Act

Official title: A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the standards for accreditation of an institution of higher education to assess the institution's a… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the standards for accreditation of an institution of higher education to assess the institution's adoption of admissions practices that refrain from preferential treatment in admissions based on an applicant's relationship to alumni of, or donors to, the institution, to authorize a feasibility study on data collection, and for other purposes.

Introduced: July 23, 2026 Introduced by: Todd Young Republican · Indiana See on congress.gov

Education

Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Jul 23, 2026

Introduced in Senate

Jul 23, 2026

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

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What's happening now July 23, 2026

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Bill text 1 version