Should colleges continue to use legacy status in admissions?

The answer is not that simple.

For centuries, many colleges—including all eight Ivy League schools—have considered a student’s legacy status (meaning if a student’s parents or grandparents attended the university) and provided preferential treatment in the admissions process. Many claim that these legacy policies disadvantage non-legacy students that may even have higher performance, particularly first-generation college students.

But should these policies continue?

While these policies have had a controversial history to prevent “change” among the campus’s student body demographics, these policies have greatly changed and evolved their intent overtime. Whether colleges have formal “legacy policies” or not, nearly all colleges—even public universities—review and consider a student’s family’s educational history, including siblings. Why? Many colleges believe that if a student’s family went to the college that the future student has a better understanding of that college’s unique academic landscape and student body environment; therefore, it is a predictor of a student’s future happiness and success at their college (as the student is less likely to face “surprises” after enrollment.

No college is immune from unhappy students—even those among the Ivy League. Several years ago, I worked with a student that attended Princeton University and after the first year dropped out for time to refocus his interests and future plans.

Additionally, it is a strong indicator that if accepted the student will commit and attend, which helps the admissions office provide acceptance letters to the most interested students (allowing them to offer less acceptance letters, increase their matriculation rates, and lower their overall acceptance rates). And at a personal level, for many students, there is great joy, pride, and honor to attend the same college as their family to embrace and join in those common experiences and bonding factors. (We can all think of game day and the photos of a family all wearing the same college’s shirt, or at times, a house divided if the parents went to two different colleges—adding to the fun “family competition” of their alma maters.

Without a doubt, there is no denying that legacy admission policies disadvantage other students, especially first-generation students. Among the top colleges that only have a few thousand spots in their freshman class, if a certain number of seats is reserved for legacy admits, then the open seats available for everyone else is most certainly limited—even if their grades and performance is higher.

However, we want to hear your thoughts!