Almost 80% of college students agree that a child of an alumnus should not be given college admissions preference, according to a new Student Voice Survey, presented by Kaplan. Of the 2,000 students polled in the survey, 54% strongly agreed and 25% somewhat agreed that institutions should end legacy admissions.
“One of the most noteworthy findings of this survey is how much bipartisan support there is for ending legacy preferences in admissions,” Laurel Hanson, Kaplan's Associate Director of College Admissions programs, said. “Among students who identify as Democrats, it’s 81%. Among those who identify as Republicans, it’s 61%. That’s still a partisan gap, but it’s much narrower than in other surveys we have conducted including on the issue of vaccine mandates at colleges for in-person learning. But overall, we are not surprised that most students across the board want this admissions policy [reset], as most students do not benefit from it personally and it disadvantages students without connections.”
The poll, conducted by Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse, comes on the heels of the news that legacy admissions are banned for all Colorado state colleges and universities. Other institutions are also in debate of ending such practices, and the University of California system has not used legacy as an admissions factor since the 1990s.
Some institutions voice concerns that ending legacy admissions means the loss of private donations for scholarships often awarded by alumni. Therefore, not accepting relatives of these alumnus would ultimately affect funding for low-income students.
“If you talk with leaders at private colleges, they might tell you that banning legacy preferences may sound like a good idea at first, but that it’s fraught with unintended consequences,” Hanson said. “Some will tell you that by ending legacy preferences, longtime donors whose parents, grandparents and children went to a school may feel offended or unappreciated and stop giving money. That could in turn have a negative impact on how many scholarships are awarded. At public universities, this would be less of a problem since legacy preferences are less of an admissions factor, if at all.”
According to the poll, female students were a bit more likely to support ending legacy admissions, 57% versus 49% of males, strongly agree with the statement. And breaking down the results by race, Black or Africa-American students came in for the lowest support of ending legacy admissions, 48% (19% strongly opposing), versus Hispanic/Latino had the highest students in strong support of ending legacies, 59%.
Although ending legacy preferences in admissions is supported by every racial demographic surveyed, it is notable that support is somewhat higher among Hispanics and Asian American college students.
“While we cannot pinpoint the exact reason, it could be because many of them are first generation students at U.S. colleges, meaning that legacy preferences may have harmed them and their families the most,” Hanson said.
When looking at the breakdown by financial funding, 55% or students who are receiving financial aid are strongly in agreement to ban legacy, versus 47% of non-financial aid receiving students.
“This is a generation of college students that is not shy about how they feel about social issues and we’ve always encouraged them to speak their minds and drive the changes that are important to them,” Hanson said. “And we’ve seen over the past year that when students band together, administrators will listen, and often enact the reforms that are being sought. A recent example that comes to mind is how some colleges are renaming buildings and schools. Those changes began at the grassroots, among students.”