FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 3, 2025
Contact: Lynn Sexton
Lynn@edreformnow.org
Legacy Admissions on the Decline: New Report Shows Steep Drop in Colleges Favoring Alumni Relatives
Latest analysis from Education Reform Now finds legacy preferences at an all-time low, as legislative bans and institutional decisions push higher education toward fairer admissions
February 3, 2025 (Washington, DC) — Today, Education Reform Now released its Future of Fair Admissions “Issue Brief 5: Legacy Admissions in 2025.” Analyzing the latest data from the Department of Education and laws passed in four states in 2024, we show that the use of legacy preferences has gone into steep decline in the past decade. The unfair practice of passing an advantage in college admissions along family bloodlines to the students who already have so many advantages may well be on its way to disappearing altogether from higher education, thanks to a combination of legislative action and public disgust with the priorities elite colleges and universities feel the need to protect.
We found that in the past decade more than half the colleges that once considered legacy status have stopped doing so, most of them voluntarily. In 2025, the practice of providing a legacy preference is now most prominently used by old, wealthy, elitist colleges and universities largely concentrated in the Northeast that apparently believe that protecting and preserving the advantages of elites is a core part of their mission.
Five states now ban the use of legacy preferences, and at least five states will be considering new bills banning legacy admissions this year. The main barrier to legacy bills that have been proposed in the Northeast has been the refusal of legislative leaders to let the bill get a vote. In every single state where legacy bills have received a vote, they have passed easily, even unanimously.
James Murphy, the director of postsecondary policy at Education Reform Now and author of this report, points out, “The willingness of elite institutions to put money ahead of merit epitomizes why many Americans across the political spectrum are wondering not just about the value of higher education but the values of higher education. Getting rid of legacy preferences is a way for colleges and universities to show the country that they share our values and that they still care about fairness and merit.” He also noted that the “in the current political climate, when Republicans have been talking a great deal about merit without any mention of legacy admissions, the upcoming legislative sessions are a chance for Democrats to take action to make college admissions fairer.”
Key findings:
- Only 420 four-year colleges and universities consider legacy status, the lowest number and share since this information began being collected.
- 24% of four-year colleges now consider legacy status, down from 29% in 2022 and 49% in 2015.
- After the Supreme Court banned the consideration of race in college admissions in 2023, 92 colleges stopped considering legacy status, an 18% decrease since 2022.
- Since 2015, 452 colleges have stopped considering a legacy status, a 52% decrease.
- At a majority of these colleges and universities (86%), eliminating a consideration of legacy status was a voluntary, institutional decision, while a minority (14%) were required to end legacy preferences by state law.
- Only 11% of public colleges and universities (62) consider legacy status in their admissions process.
- In 24 states no public colleges or universities provide a legacy preference.
- 30% of private colleges and universities (358) consider legacy status in their admissions process.
- Legacy preferences persist most strongly at the most selective colleges and universities. More than half still provide a birthright advantage to the relatives of alumni.
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