Many higher education institutions have banned preferential admissions treatment for legacy applicants, students whose relatives are alumni of the institution. These students often hail from wealthy, White families. Thus, providing legacy applicants with an admissions bonus may contribute to an institution’s lower racial and socioeconomic diversity on campus.
However, a new brief from scholars at Vanderbilt University in Nashville has found that legacy preference bans alone will not increase student diversity at colleges and universities.
In an examination of one state and six institutions that have previously implemented legacy preference bans, the report authors found mixed results regarding the impact of those bans on student diversity. Some institutions that eliminated legacy preferences, such as Amherst College in Massachusetts, the University of California System, and the University of Georgia, saw little to no change in campus diversity following the ban. The state of Colorado implemented a legislative ban on legacy preferences, but public institutions across the state saw negligible effects on diversity.
In contrast, other institutions that implemented legacy preference bans did experience increases in student diversity after the admissions policy was changed. After banning legacy preferences, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore saw gains in Black, Hispanic, and Asian enrollments and decreases in White enrollment. At Texas A&M University, legacy preferences bans led to a decline in White students and an increase in Hispanic students. The University of Pittsburgh’s ban on legacy preferences led to a decrease in White and Black student enrollment, but an increase in Hispanic and Asian student enrollment.
Among these seven cases, only Texas A&M and Pitt increased low-income student enrollment, suggesting legacy applicants at other institutions were replaced by other high-income students.
Based on their findings, the authors suggest that states should implement legacy preference bans at both public and private institutions. They also encourage institutions that are looking to increase racial and socioeconomic diversity on campus to focus on recruiting in underrepresented communities and expanding financial aid opportunities, as these are practices that have proven to be effective in advancing higher education access.
