Giving preferential treatment to children of alumni for college admission under fire

BOSTON — A long tradition in higher education is legacy admissions, a system that gives preferential treatment to applicants with family members who attended the same college.

Getting into an elite college can be a golden ticket to a successful life, but those schools are often not an option for some well-qualified students.

“When you’re going up against someone who’s living off their parent’s legacy, or what their parents can do, it’s not a fair fight,” said Marquis Taylor, founder of Coaching 4 Change, an organization that works with many high school students who would be the first in their families to attend college.

Legacy admissions have long been part of the application process at many schools explained Gregg Cohen, founder and president of Campus Bound, a counseling service with offices throughout the Boston area.

“It has been popular at the most selective schools,” Cohen said. “More than half of the schools right now still have some kind of preferential treatment for legacy students.”

Cohen says continuing a family tradition is seen as a plus by many schools. “By building that bond with the school, and not disappointing alumni, the theory is it helps them raise more money.”

Now the fairness of this system is being questioned and some prestigious schools here in Massachusetts are starting to eliminate it.

Critics of legacy admissions argue this system makes it harder for first-generation students, and those from underserved communities, to get admitted.

Reportedly, Harvard University accepted about a third of legacy applicants between 2014-2019, compared to 5.9% of non-legacy students.

“Generally speaking, I think the country is going in the direction of wanting to make this system fairer, which I think is a good thing,” added Cohen.

Recently, Amherst College joined schools like M-I-T and Johns Hopkins by phasing out legacy as part of the application process.

“Getting rid of legacy allows for a lot of young people who might not have had the same opportunities but have worked really hard and overcome a myriad of challenges to get into an institution that can really help them become more economically mobile,” Taylor said.

He says opening the door wider at these schools benefits the institutions as well. “Being able to sit in a classroom where you have young people coming from so many backgrounds, telling their stories, sharing their perspectives, it’s so meaningful, it’s so rich.”

We asked college students in Boston what they think of legacy admissions.

One man said he thinks they are definitely unfair. “I think every student should have an equal opportunity based on their own achievement.

A woman added, “I don’t have a problem with it as long as you’ve earned your spot.”

Another said, “There’s obviously a positive about having legacy students because they’re passionate about the college.”

Cohen believes ending legacy admissions is part of a broader trend to make college admissions more transparent following the Varsity Blues investigation.

Boston 25 News reached out to Harvard University to see if they plan to amend their policy but didn’t hear back.

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