Legacy Admissions: How Affirmative Action Lives on for the Privileged

By: Morgan Dreher

Edited by: Colin Crawford and Isabel Niemer

In a landmark decision during the summer of 2023, the Supreme Court banned Affirmative Action in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. According to the decision, race-conscious admissions are unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. [1] It seems that the conservative court has set aside equity concerns and is choosing to embrace the United States tradition of meritocracy, right? Yet, it appears that not all forms of Affirmative Action are gone. Famously referred to by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as “affirmative action for the privileged,” legacy admissions were excluded from the SFFA v. Harvard decision and remain a prominent practice in the United States, despite their mention in the case. [2] With Affirmative Action banned due to the unlawful favoring of certain groups, why are we continuing to give preference to the children of alumni and donors? Now that the equalizing force of Affirmative Action is gone, a widespread uproar against the hypocrisy of continuing legacy admissions has surfaced to challenge the century-old practice.

Legacy admissions originated in the 1920’s, and the intention was unethical from the start. As the presence of Catholic and Jewish immigrants was growing in the United States, elite institutions, which were mainly Protestant, sought to protect their religious exclusivity. [3] Since Catholic people were quick to form their own colleges, legacy policies were largely targeted at keeping Jewish students out of American universities. The Ivy League started as exclusively wealthy, white, and Protestant, and legacy policies were intended to ensure that these identities continued to dominate top universities. [4] As a result, legacy admissions also effectively slowed the representation of other races and religions in Ivy League schools. [5] Today, universities claim different goals, citing that legacies help them build a sense of family loyalty, gauge interest levels of students to lower their acceptance rates, and acquire university donations. [6][7]

While these may be the current publicized reasons universities support legacy admissions, the other effects are quite problematic. For example, legacy admissions perpetuate social stratification, as legacy admits are typically wealthy and white. [8] According to a study from a Harvard research group, legacy students are almost four times more likely to be accepted than students with comparable test scores, meaning the advantage is extreme. [9] This is impacting a drastic portion of the student bodies at competitive schools, as PBS reports that 43% of Harvard students had some sort of legacy status. [10] Some colleges will even offer scholarships to legacies, [11] even though legacy students do not have higher qualifications or demonstrate better performance once arriving at the university. [12] Furthermore, America’s top institutions are the most likely to consider legacy status in admissions. [13] Degrees from these universities are often linked to higher income and a greater likelihood of achieving a leadership position, meaning the integrity of the admissions practices at these institutions holds a significant societal impact. [14] The number of colleges partaking further exacerbates the issue. In 2010, most liberal arts colleges and research institutions showed a preference for legacy students. [15] 

The combination of these disturbing statistics and the erasure of Affirmative Action has prompted states and universities to reconsider whether they should incorporate legacy status into their admissions practices. As of now, the only two states to bar legacy admissions are Colorado and Virginia. Colorado took this step in 2021, while Virginia’s proposal recently passed unanimously through both chambers of their legislature, and will take effect in July of 2024. [16] Both states only banned the practice in their public universities, but a few private institutions have enacted similar bans, such as MIT and Johns Hopkins University. [17][18] More change is on the horizon, with states such as Connecticut, California, Massachusetts, Maryland, and New York currently debating legislation for bans in both public and private schools. [19] Some of these states must battle strong opposition from the country’s top universities, including Harvard and Yale. The fate of many of these universities likely rests on the Department of Education’s current investigation of Harvard, which is looking to determine whether legacy admissions promote racial discrimination. [20] If Harvard’s practices are found to perpetuate discrimination, other schools will likely expunge legacy admissions before facing similar scrutiny. 

What about a federal ban? Although this usually seems far-fetched because of Congress’ typical sluggish pace, the bipartisan federal bill introduced to Congress in November 2023 may stand a chance. [21] Support for the issue is widespread, as a Pew Research Center Study reported that 75% of Americans disagree with legacy admissions. [22] Additionally, the issue receives support from both sides of the political aisle, as Democrats zone in on equity concerns and Republicans focus on meritocracy. Either way, the blatant hypocrisy of legacy admissions despite the SFFA v. Harvard decision is glaring, and people from all parties are provoked. If the Supreme Court claims preferential treatment should not be given based on membership to underprivileged communities, then the most privileged members of society certainly should not be given an extra advantage. 

Notes:

1. Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181 (2023).

2. Michael D. Shear and Anemona Hartocollis, "Education Dept. Opens Civil Rights Inquiry into Harvard’s Legacy Admissions," New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast), 2023.  http://turing.library.northwestern.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/education-dept-opens-civil-rights-inquiry-into/docview/2841610164/se-2. 

3. Erin Blakemore, “Why do colleges have legacy admissions? It started as a way to keep out Jews,” National Geographic, 2023. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/legacy-admissions-college-anti-semitism-united-states. 

4. Allan Ornstein, “Wealth, Legacy and College Admission,” Soc 56, 335–339, (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-019-00377-2. 

5. Ornstein, “Wealth, Legacy and College Admission,” 2019.

6. Shear and Hartocollis, "Education Dept. Opens Civil Rights Inquiry into Harvard’s Legacy Admissions," 2023.

7. Gabriela Goodman and Sarah Reber, “Who uses legacy admissions? | Brookings.” Brookings Institution, 2024. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-widespread-is-the-practice-of-giving-special-consideration-to-relatives-of-alumni-in-admissions/. 

8. Deborah L. Coe and James D. Davidson, “The Origins of Legacy Admissions: A Sociological Explanation,” Review of Religious Research 52, no. 3 : 233–47, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23055549.

9. Joan E. Greve, “'Affirmative action for the privileged': why Democrats are fighting legacy admissions,” The Guardian, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/aug/11/college-legacy-admissions-affirmative-action-democrats. 

10. Geoff Bennett and Courtney Norris, “Affirmative action ruling prompts new push to end legacy admissions,” PBS, 2023. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/affirmative-action-ruling-prompts-new-push-to-end-legacy-admissions.

11. Goodman and Reber, “Who uses legacy admissions?” 2024. 

12. E. J. Castilla and E. J. Poskanzer, “Through the Front Door: Why Do Organizations (Still) Prefer Legacy Applicants?” American Sociological Review, 87(5), 782-826, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/00031224221122889. 

13. Goodman and Reber, “Who uses legacy admissions?” 2024.

14. Natasha Warikoo, "What Meritocracy Means to its Winners: Admissions, Race, and Inequality at Elite Universities in The United States and Britain" Social Sciences 7, no. 8: 131, 2018. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7080131. 

15. Castilla and Poskanzer, “Why Do Organizations (Still) Prefer Legacy Applicants?” 2022.

16. Laura Spitalniak, “A look at 5 states weighing legacy admissions bans,” Higher Ed Dive, 2024. https://www.highereddive.com/news/5-states-weigh-legacy-admissions-bans/711428/. 

17. Spitalniak, “5 states weighing legacy admissions bans,” 2024. 

18. Blakemore, “Why do colleges have legacy admissions? It started as a way to keep out Jews,” 2023. 

19. Spitalniak, “5 states weighing legacy admissions bans,” 2024. 

20. Marissa Zupancic, “US Education Department investigating Harvard legacy admissions policy for racial discrimination,” Jurist, 2023. https://www.jurist.org/news/2023/07/us-education-department-investigating-harvard-legacy-admissions-policy-for-racial-discrimination/. 

21. Liam Knox, “State bans on legacy preferences gain bipartisan steam,” Inside Higher Ed, 2024. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/traditional-age/2024/01/29/state-bans-legacy-preferences-gain-bipartisan-steam. 

22. Goodman and Reber, “Who uses legacy admissions?” 2024.

Bibliography:

Bennett, Geoff, and Courtney Norris. “Affirmative action ruling prompts new push to end legacy admissions.” PBS, PBS, July 13, 2023. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/affirmative-action-ruling-prompts-new-push-to-end-legacy-admissions.  

Blakemore, Erin. “Why do colleges have legacy admissions? It started as a way to keep out Jews.” National Geographic, 2023. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/legacy-admissions-college-anti-semitism-united-states. 

Castilla, E. J., & Poskanzer, E. J.. Through the Front Door: Why Do Organizations (Still) Prefer Legacy Applicants? American Sociological Review, 87(5), (2022): 782-826. https://doi.org/10.1177/00031224221122889. 

Coe, Deborah L., and James D. Davidson. “The Origins of Legacy Admissions: A Sociological Explanation.” Review of Religious Research 52, no. 3 (2011): 233–47. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23055549. 

Greve, Joan E.. “'Affirmative action for the privileged': why Democrats are fighting legacy admissions.” The Guardian, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/aug/11/college-legacy-admissions-affirmative-action-democrats. 

Goodman, Gabriela, and Sarah Reber.“Who uses legacy admissions? | Brookings.” Brookings Institution, 2024. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-widespread-is-the-practice-of-giving-special-consideration-to-relatives-of-alumni-in-admissions/. 

Knox, Liam. “State bans on legacy preferences gain bipartisan steam.” Inside Higher Ed, 2024. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/traditional-age/2024/01/29/state-bans-legacy-preferences-gain-bipartisan-steam. 

Ornstein, A. “Wealth, Legacy and College Admission.” Soc 56, 3 (2019): 35–339. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-019-00377-2. 

Shear, Michael D. and Anemona Hartocollis. "Education Dept. Opens Civil Rights Inquiry into Harvard’s Legacy Admissions." New York Times, Jul 26, 2023, Late Edition (East Coast). https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/us/politics/harvard-admissions-civil-rights-inquiry.html. 

Spitalniak, Laura. “A look at 5 states weighing legacy admissions bans.” Higher Ed Dive, 2024. https://www.highereddive.com/news/5-states-weigh-legacy-admissions-bans/711428/. 

Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181 (2023).

Warikoo, Natasha. "What Meritocracy Means to its Winners: Admissions, Race, and Inequality at Elite Universities in The United States and Britain" Social Sciences 7, no. 8: 131, 2018. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7080131. 

Zupancic, Marissa. “US Education Department investigating Harvard legacy admissions policy for racial discrimination.” Jurist, 2023. https://www.jurist.org/news/2023/07/us-education-department-investigating-harvard-legacy-admissions-policy-for-racial-discrimination/.