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Legacy preferences or legacy admission is a type of preference given by educational institutions to certain applicants on the basis of their familial relationship to alumni of that institution. (Students so admitted are referred to as legacies or legacy students.) There is a long history of this practice at American universities and colleges. The Ivy League
Ivy League

The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of university in the Northeastern United States. The term is most commonly used to refer to those eight schools considered as a group....
 institutions are estimated to admit 10% to 15% of each entering class based upon this factor.

Former Harvard University
Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
 president Lawrence Summers
Lawrence Summers

Lawrence Henry "Larry" Summers is an American economist and the head of the White House's National Economic Council for President Barack Obama....
 has stated, "Legacy admissions are integral to the kind of community that any private educational institution is." In the 1998 book The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions, authors William G. Bowen
William G. Bowen

William G. Bowen is President Emeritus of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation where he served as President from 1988 to 2006. He was the president of Princeton University from 1972 to 1988....
, former Princeton University
Princeton University

Princeton University is a private university university located in Princeton, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and has the largest per-student Financial endowment in the world....
 president, and Derek Bok
Derek Bok

Derek Curtis Bok is an United States lawyer and educator, and the former president of Harvard University.Bok was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Stanford University , Harvard Law School , and George Washington University ....
, former Harvard University president, found "the overall admission rate for legacies was almost twice that for all other candidates."

ough university officials state that legacy preferences are used only as a tipping factor in admissions, the strength of the programme is actually quite strong.






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Legacy preferences or legacy admission is a type of preference given by educational institutions to certain applicants on the basis of their familial relationship to alumni of that institution. (Students so admitted are referred to as legacies or legacy students.) There is a long history of this practice at American universities and colleges. The Ivy League
Ivy League

The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of university in the Northeastern United States. The term is most commonly used to refer to those eight schools considered as a group....
 institutions are estimated to admit 10% to 15% of each entering class based upon this factor.

Former Harvard University
Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
 president Lawrence Summers
Lawrence Summers

Lawrence Henry "Larry" Summers is an American economist and the head of the White House's National Economic Council for President Barack Obama....
 has stated, "Legacy admissions are integral to the kind of community that any private educational institution is." In the 1998 book The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions, authors William G. Bowen
William G. Bowen

William G. Bowen is President Emeritus of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation where he served as President from 1988 to 2006. He was the president of Princeton University from 1972 to 1988....
, former Princeton University
Princeton University

Princeton University is a private university university located in Princeton, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and has the largest per-student Financial endowment in the world....
 president, and Derek Bok
Derek Bok

Derek Curtis Bok is an United States lawyer and educator, and the former president of Harvard University.Bok was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Stanford University , Harvard Law School , and George Washington University ....
, former Harvard University president, found "the overall admission rate for legacies was almost twice that for all other candidates."

Legacy preferences in comparison to other programmes

Although university officials state that legacy preferences are used only as a tipping factor in admissions, the strength of the programme is actually quite strong. According to a study by two Princeton academics, Espenshade and Chung, legacy preference admits are given an equivalent of 160 point boost in their SAT scores (out of 1600) and can account for as much as a 300 point boost. However, this is actually a smaller advantage than for recruited athletes or affirmative action, which give equivalent boosts of between 185 and 230 points.

The data from the study represent admissions disadvantage and advantage in terms of SAT
SAT

The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized testing for college admissions in the Education in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a non-profit organization in the United States, and was once developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service ....
 points (on the old 1600-point scale):
  • Blacks: +230
  • Hispanics: +185
  • Asians: –50
  • Recruited athletes: +200
  • Legacies (children of alumni): +160


Criticism

Because private universities in U.S. rely heavily on the donation from alumni, critics argue that legacy preferences are a way to indirectly sell university placement. Opponents accuse these programs of perpetuating an oligarchy
Oligarchy

Oligarchy is a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small Elitism segment of society distinguished by royalty, wealth, family, military influence or occult spiritual hegemony....
 and plutocracy
Plutocracy

Plutocracy is rule by the wealthy, or power provided by wealth.In a plutocracy, the degree of economic inequality is high while the level of social mobility is low....
 as they lower the weight of academic merit in admissions process in exchange of financial one. Another criticism is that the wealthy are given an insurmountable advantage which hinders economic mobility within the society.

However, some couple their stance on the two policies, either supporting or opposing both affirmative action and legacy preferences simultaneously. For example, the conservative former Regent of the University of California
Regents of the University of California

The Regents of the University of California make up the governing board of the University of California. The Board has 26 full members:* The majority are appointed by the Governor of California for 12-year terms....
, Ward Connerly
Ward Connerly

Wardell Anthony Connerly is an United States political activist, businessman, and former University of California Regents of the University of California....
, opposes both affirmative action and legacy admissions. Some supporters of the elimination of all non-academic preferences also point out that many European universities, including highly selective institutions such as Oxford
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
 and Cambridge
University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
, do not use any racial, legacy, or athletic preferences in admissions decisions.

See also

  • Nepotism
    Nepotism

    Nepotism is the showing of favoritism toward relatives or friends based upon that relationship, rather than on an objective evaluation of ability or suitability....
  • Affirmative action
    Affirmative action

    The term affirmative action refers to policies that take gender, race, or ethnicity into account in an attempt to promote equal opportunity. The focus of such policies ranges from employment and public contracting to educational outreach and health programs ....
  • Numerus clausus
    Numerus clausus

    Numerus clausus is one of many methods used to limit the number of students who may study at a university. It can be similar to a racial quota, both in form and motivation....
  • Mismatching
    Mismatching

    Mismatching is the term given to the negative effect that affirmative action has when it places a student into a college that is too difficult for him or her....


Outside resources

  • , The Economist
    The Economist

    The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international relations publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in London....
    , December 29, 2004.
  • , Wall Street Journal, April 25, 2003, by Daniel Golden.
  • , The Daily Princetonian
    The Daily Princetonian

    The Daily Princetonian is the daily independent student newspaper of Princeton University. It is published five days a week from September to May and three days a week during the University's Reading Period in January and May....
    , February, 2003
  • , The Boston Globe
    The Boston Globe

    The Boston Globe is the most widely circulated daily newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and in New England, United States. Owned by The New York Times Company, the broadsheet Globes local print rival is the Boston Herald....
  • , The Economist
    The Economist

    The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international relations publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in London....
    , January 8, 2004.