Virginia is expected to ban legacy preferences at its public universities, which would boost the admissions of children of alumni who apply for admission.
The state House unanimously approved a bill to eliminate the concessions on Tuesday; the state Senate did so last week.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin, whose office said he would sign the legislation, said in a statement that he “believes admissions to Virginia’s colleges and universities should be based on merit.” The law will go into effect on July 1, after fall 2024 admissions decisions are made.
The ban, which will affect two of the country’s more selective public universities, the University of Virginia and the University of William and Mary, is yet another sign that traditional admissions benefits primarily white, wealthy and well-connected students but loses out across the U.S. favor. nation. Virginia Tech, another prominent public university in the state, announced last year that it would no longer be considered for legacy status.
Traditional admissions became a target last year, shortly after the Supreme Court banned race-based admissions. President Biden said legacy preferences expand “privilege rather than opportunity.”
After the Supreme Court’s ruling in June, several highly selective private schools, including Wesleyan University, announced they would eliminate legacy preferences. New York University says it will remove a check from its application that asks prospective students whether they are legacies.
They join several colleges that have eliminated or never used traditional preferences, including MIT, Johns Hopkins University, Amherst College and the University of California system.
Colorado has banned legacy preferences at its public universities, and Congress and states such as Connecticut and New York have introduced similar legislation banning the practice.
But many elite private universities — including Harvard, Yale and Brown — still prioritize the children of alumni. Recent data released by the Ministry of Education shows that nearly 600 colleges and universities consider legacy status in admissions.
Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania are the subject of a federal Department of Education investigation into their use of legacy preferences and whether the practice constitutes a civil rights violation. Harvard’s investigation began after complaints from three advocacy groups.
Virginia’s bill, which must go through more legislative maneuvers before being sent to the governor for his signature, would also prohibit “donor status” from being considered in admissions to state institutions. Under this practice, wealthy parents or other relatives secure their children’s schooling by donating funds for new buildings or projects.
Dan Helmer, the Democrat who sponsored the bill in the Virginia House of Representatives, said it’s time to level the playing field.
“The vast majority of Virginians, whether they are Democrats, Republicans or independents, want a college system that admits students based on who they are and what they have done, not who their parents are,” Helmer said Mr.
Helmer, a West Point graduate, said no university in the state has publicly opposed the legislation, although he suggested they may have lobbied privately. “There were probably a few universities that came over,” he added, “and I said, ‘If you want to go on the record, you can.'”
The University of Virginia, where legacy admissions sometimes make up 14% of enrollment, recently tweaked its admissions application to remove the checkbox for legacy status but said students can still indicate whether they are legacy in their admissions essays.
University of Virginia spokesman Brian T. Coy said in a statement Tuesday that the university’s policy is not to comment on pending legislation. “For decades, the University of Virginia has evaluated each undergraduate admissions candidate as an individual with a unique story and combined strengths, rather than through a weighted approach and checkboxes,” he said. “
James A. Bacon, executive director of a conservative Virginia alumni group called the Jefferson Committee, said the group has not yet taken a position on the legislation.
“We are of two minds,” Bacon wrote in an email. For one thing, he said, intergenerational families tend to be more loyal, committed and generous to colleges. “On the other hand, we support merit-based admissions based on character and academic achievement,” he wrote.
The College of William and Mary also considers legacy admissions. The university said in a statement that it would comment on the possible impact of the bill once it is finally passed. Suzanne Clavet, a university spokesperson, said in a statement that school data shows admitted legacy applicants are more than twice as likely to attend the school as other admitted applicants.