Universities Weblog

Think you're a shoo-in for admission to your dad's college just because he went there? Think again.

Giving preference to children of alumni—legacies—has come under fire recently, as concerns about preferences of any sort continue to surface. This article discusses how state lawmakers are pressuring Texas A&M to eliminate a policy that gives legacies an advantage, albeit a small one, in the admissions process. Opponents persuasively argue that such a policy discriminates against minority students because previous generations of students largely were white. Of course, Texas' public institutions had to ban affirmative action programs in 1996 as a result of the Hopwood case, and minority enrollments have declined considerably. As of last year, only two percent of A&M's undergrads were black.

Will this backlash against legacies spread to other public universities and to privates? Time will tell, but this article shows just how pervasive this practice is among prestigious institutions.

As things currently stand, though, if your dad went to Yale, you have some advantage. Just ask George Bush.

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