What’s New
Most public and private colleges that gave admissions preferences to the children of alumni or donors have stopped doing so in the last decade.
The drop is detailed in a report released Monday by Education Reform Now, a nonpartisan think tank and advocacy organization. The organization has been tracking and reporting colleges’ use of legacy status since 2015.
“This profoundly unfair practice of passing an admissions advantage in college admissions along family bloodlines may well be on its way to disappearing altogether from higher education thanks to a combination of legislative action and public disgust with the priorities elite colleges and universities feel the need to protect,” the report states.
The Details
Since 2015, a total of 452 colleges have stopped considering legacy status in their admissions process. Now, 24 percent of four-year colleges consider legacy status, down from 49 percent a decade ago, according to the report, which examined nearly 1,800 institutions.
The vast majority of colleges ended the consideration of legacy status voluntarily. A smaller number of institutions were required to do so by state legislation.
“Legacy preferences persist most strongly at the wealthiest and most selective colleges and universities,” the report states. “More than half of these colleges still provide a birthright advantage to the relatives of alumni.”
Private colleges still practice legacy admissions at a higher percentage than public institutions. A total of 358 colleges, or 30 percent of all private institutions, consider legacy status in their admissions processes. The report found that the preference is most prominently used by selective colleges concentrated in the Northeast.
Ivy League colleges are among the small percentage of private institutions still considering legacy status in their admissions processes, according to the report, which is based on federal data reported by institutions in December 2023.
Few public institutions still consider legacy status in their admissions processes, according to the report. In 24 states, no public colleges use legacy preferences; overall, 62 public institutions still consider legacy status in their admissions processes.
The Backdrop
The decline in practicing legacy admissions follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to strike down the use of race as a factor in college admissions. Since then, 92 colleges stopped considering legacy status, according to the report.
Several states have introduced legislation banning legacy admissions at both public and private institutions. In 2024, Virginia and Illinois passed legislation banning the practice at public colleges, Maryland passed a law banning legacy admissions at public and private colleges, and California banned the practice at private institutions.
The report recommends other changes to stop legacy preferences from holding sway in admissions. The Common App, an application used by over 1,000 colleges, is “unintentionally aiding and abetting legacy admissions,” the report states.
The Common App requires students applying to college to identify where their parents earned a bachelor’s degree. While the report clarifies that this information “does not matter at more than three-quarters of colleges,” it recommends the application remove this question, “which can unfairly bias the process in favor of an applicant.”
What’s Next
James Murphy, director of postsecondary policy for Education Reform Now, said that although a small percentage of colleges still use legacy preferences, “they probably don’t play much role in their admissions process at all.”
Murphy said the most highly selective colleges that still practice legacy admissions “have the greatest impact and do the most harm.” He said there’s growing pressure from both lawmakers and the general public to end the practice.
“Who’s going to be the last place to cling to this unfair practice? You don’t want to be the last Ivy League to drop legacy preferences,” Murphy said. “So hopefully we’ll see some movement, just from the pressure to not essentially be a freak among the colleges that actually do care about opportunity and access and merit.”
