Legacy Admissions at Colleges: An Overview
The practice of legacy admissions, which gives preferential treatment to applicants with familial ties to alumni, has become a focal point of debate in higher education. This article explores the prevalence of legacy admissions, the arguments for and against it, and recent developments that may reshape the landscape of college admissions.
The Prevalence of Legacy Admissions
Legacy admissions policies are widespread among selective colleges and universities. According to a new IHEP analysis of data released through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), many institutions considered legacy status for first-time students enrolling in fall 2022. These policies were especially prevalent at selective private nonprofit four-year institutions, 42 percent of which considered legacy status. Fifteen percent of selective public four-year colleges also considered an applicant’s family ties to the institution when making admissions decisions, encompassing a large share of the students who are affected by legacy status in admissions. In the 2021-2022 academic year, 2.1 million undergraduate students enrolled in institutions that considered legacy status when making admissions decisions.
The Argument for Legacy Admissions
Historically, legacy admissions have been seen as a way for institutions to maintain ties with alumni, secure donations, and increase their yield rate, which can be beneficial for rankings and institutional reputation. A family’s commitment to a school across generations can be seen as a reflection of the institution’s selectivity and prestige.
Colleges are anything but transparent when it comes to sharing information about admission by cohort within the applicant pool, it’s a fair bet that legacies still enjoy better odds than most of their non-legacy counterparts. What Poskanzer and Castilla did uncover was, not surprisingly a significant difference in who was likely to donate. Harvard, with its over $50 billion endowment may not need legions of small dollar alumni donors to keep the lights on, but for schools that are more dependent on tuition revenue, these intergenerational connections do matter.
Arguments Against Legacy Admissions
Critics argue that legacy admissions perpetuate inequality, giving a leg up to the relatives of college-educated families who are disproportionately White and well-off. Giving a leg up to the relatives of college graduates perpetuates this trend in succeeding generations, tilting the scales against Black and Hispanic students and students from low-income backgrounds. The most recent IPEDS data reveal disparities by race, ethnicity, and income in college enrollment between institutions that consider legacy in their admissions process and institutions that do not. Selective institutions that do not consider legacy in admissions are more racially diverse, with higher proportions of Black and Hispanic students compared with selective institutions that do consider legacy status in admissions. American Indian or Alaska Native enrollment differs by one percentage point between both categories, while enrollment of Asian students and students who identify as two or more races remained the same in both cases.
Read also: The Right Path After GCSEs
Similarly, selective four-year institutions that do not consider legacy status serve a greater share of students from low-income backgrounds. Forty-two percent of full-time, first-time undergraduates at these institutions receive Pell Grants, a federal need-based aid program, compared with just 36 percent at selective four-year institutions that do consider legacy in admissions.
A 2022 Pew Research survey found that 75% of Americans believe that legacy status should not be considered in the admissions process, a number that has steadily increased in recent years.
The Impact of the Supreme Court Decision
The Supreme Court's decision to end race-conscious admissions in higher education has fueled increased scrutiny of legacy admissions, prompting policymakers in several states to introduce legislation to end the practice. The decision has fueled increased scrutiny of legacy admissions, prompting policymakers in several states to introduce legislation to end the practice.
Recent Changes in Legacy Admissions Policies
Over 100 institutions have eliminated legacy policies since 2015, and several states have banned legacy admissions at public institutions. To diversify student populations, enrich learning communities, and deliver educational excellence to all students, institutions should stop considering legacy status when making admissions decisions and instead consider whether students are the first in their family to go to college. The Department of Education’s release of legacy admissions data is a commendable first step in providing an evidence base for postsecondary leaders to rethink their policies and practices to prioritize equitable access. The Department has also proposed collecting data on applicants and admitted students, disaggregated by race and ethnicity.
In the last nine years, more than a hundred institutions have eliminated the practice, including Amherst, Johns Hopkins, and Wesleyan (as a rare exception, MIT has never considered legacy status). Additionally, many states are instituting legacy bans for either public or private institutions, or both. Colorado was the first to do so in 2021, followed by Virginia, Maryland, and Illinois. Just this fall, California became the fifth state to pass a legacy admissions ban.
Read also: Explore CFK
Large public flagship universities like the University of California, University of Texas, and University of Georgia dropped legacy preferences years ago. In 2021, Governor Jarod Polis signed legislation that barred legacy preferences at all Colorado public colleges and universities. Just this week, Pittsburgh media reported that children of alumni will no longer have an admissions advantage at both Carnegie Mellon and Pitt. Interestingly, neither university made a public statement about this change. Today, Wesleyan announced the end of legacy preferences in admissions.
Legacy Admissions at Elite Institutions
Despite the growing trend of eliminating legacy admissions, many Ivy League and other top colleges still consider legacy status. The most competitive schools tend to be the ones where legacy offers the biggest admissions boost. For these institutions, legacy admissions have historically served as a way to maintain ties with alumni, secure donations, and increase their yield rate, which can be beneficial for rankings and institutional reputation. A family’s commitment to a school across generations can be seen as a reflection of the institution’s selectivity and prestige. As a result, legacy applicants not only have a higher chance of admission but often enter the college application process with support from alumni connections, which can further boost their profiles.
At Princeton University, legacy applicants are four times more likely to earn admission, according to Forbes. And at Notre Dame, a school with one of the highest rates of legacy admission in the nation, between 19% and 25% of the school’s incoming class is reportedly comprised of legacy students each year. Additional “Top 100” universities that reportedly favor legacy applicants include Stanford University, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Rice University, Washington University of St. Louis, and Emory University.
A 2023 civil rights complaint against Harvard reported that between 2014 and 2019, donor-related applicants were a whopping seven times more likely to be admitted to Harvard than other applicants, while legacy applicants were almost six times more likely to be admitted. Though “recruited athletes, legacies, relatives of donors and children of faculty and staff” make up less than 5% of the applicant pool, they constitute approximately 30% of those accepted each year.
Twenty years ago, legacy applicants to the Ivy League generally saw rates of admission that were 3-4 times greater than the overall rate of admission. In the early 2000s, Harvard accepted a mere 11 percent of its total applicants, but admitted 40 percent of its legacy applicants. Likewise, in 2003 Penn admitted 21 percent of its total applicants and 51 percent of its legacy applicants. We know that from the period of 2014-2019, legacy applicants to Harvard enjoyed an admit rate of over 33 percent - a whopping five times greater than non-legacy applicants. At Princeton, the admit rate for legacies was six times the overall admit rate in 2018, while at Stanford, they were three times as likely for the Class of 2022.
Read also: Comprehensive Guide to Michigan Colleges
Navigating Legacy Admissions
Students who dream of attending an Ivy League or other top schools should be aware of the ways in which legacy status shapes the incoming class-those who have a legacy connection to a top school should certainly apply, leveraging their institutional connections alongside a strong academic and extracurricular profile. At the same time, the mounting calls for change in legacy considerations and growing push toward legislative bans could force elite institutions to change their policies-whether willingly or not. Regardless of legacy status, top schools are looking for students who will be innovative thinkers and leaders on campus and in their profession.
If you are a legacy at your dream school, check what kinds of resources exist for you through the admissions office. Many elite schools offer a variety of resources for potential legacy applicants, including personal advising, tours, even application reviews.
tags: #colleges #with #highest #legacy #admissions #rates
