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106 Op. Md. Att'y Gen. 3 (2021)

handle is hein.sag/sagmd0110 and id is 1 raw text is: COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ADMISSIONS - CRIMINAL HISTORY - WHETHER HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS MAY RESCIND A STUDENT'S ADMISSION ON THE BASIS OF CRIMINAL HISTORY DISCOVERED AFTER ENROLLMENT - WHETHER THE MARYLAND FAIR ACCESS TO EDUCATION ACT APPLIES TO JUVENILE RECORDS February 18, 2021 The Honorable Jason C. Buckel Maryland House of Delegates You have requested our opinion on two questions about the Maryland Fair Access to Education Act (the Act), which generally prohibits institutions of higher education from asking prospective students about criminal history on initial admissions applications but allows those institutions to later inquire into and consider criminal history in making decisions regarding admission and access to campus residency. Md. Code Ann., Educ. (ED) §§ 26-501 to -506. First, you ask whether the Act permits an institution to rescind an enrolled student's admission based on criminal history that the institution discovers after the student has enrolled at the institution, including to address concerns about campus safety. Second, you ask whether the Act permits an institution to inquire into and consider juvenile records as part of the admissions process. Before we can answer your first question about whether an institution may rescind admission after a student has enrolled, it is necessary to understand when the Act permits an institution to deny admission based on criminal history or to rescind an offer of admission, before enrollment, based on such history. According to the Act's language and legislative history, the General Assembly apparently contemplated that an institution could adopt a two-step admissions process as it relates to criminal history. The first step- that is, the initial admissions application-must generally be blind to criminal history. See ED § 26-503. If, however, an institution chooses to ask about criminal history as a second step in the process-that is, as a separate inquiry following the submission of an application-the institution may then consider criminal history when making decisions about admission, as well as about campus residency, so long as it does not automatically or unreasonably restrict a student's admission on that basis. ED § 26-504. Although the Act also requires an institution to develop a written process to 3

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