The controversy surrounding college admissions based on legacy may soon heat up with North Carolina Senator and Democratic presidential candidate John Ed-wards' challenge to colleges and universities to end all legacy policies.
In a speech at the University of Maryland on Nov. 21, Edwards outlined his education policy. With regard to colleges, he spoke out against both early decision programs and legacy admission policies.
"The legacy preference rewards students who had the most advantages to begin with," Edwards said in his address. "It is a birthright out of 18th Century British aristocracy, not 21st Century American democracy. It is wrong."
At Princeton, an estimated 13 percent of the total number of students on campus for the 2002-2003 academic year are legacy students, University Communications Director Lauren Robinson-Brown '85 said. In addition, 35 percent of the 466 legacy applicants to the Class of 2006 were accepted, as contrasted to the 11 percent of the 14,521 non-legacy applicants.
Though Princeton does take legacy status into consideration, Robinson-Brown said the credentials of the legacy candidates are extremely competitive with the rest of the class.
Melinda Chu '03, whose father graduated from Princeton in 1967, said she never counted on acceptance to Princeton because of her legacy status.
"When I was growing up, it was by no means a given that I was going to get in here," Chu said in an email. "I applied to 26 schools. Instead, the fact that my father went here served as motivation for me during school. It seemed within the realm of possibilities that I too, could go to Princeton, but only after working hard like he did."
By the numbers
Princeton's percentage of legacy students are not much different from those of other universities.
In the 1998 book "The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions," authors William Bowen, former University president, and Derek Bok, former Harvard president, found "the overall admission rate for legacies was almost twice that for all other candidates."
At Harvard, for instance, 10 to 13 percent of each incoming class in the past 10 years has been made up of legacy students — graduates of Harvard or Radcliffe Colleges — Marilyn McGrath Lewis, director of admission at the university, said.
And in Duke University's class of 2006, 12 percent are legacy students, according to Director of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag.
In their book, Bowen and Bok noted that the legacy "advantage" does not help all applicants equally. Legacy applicants with higher SAT scores are more likely to benefit from being legacy than legacy applicants with lower SAT scores.
Dean of Admission Fred Harg-adon explained what advantage Princeton legacy applicants receive.
"We don't give any specific points to such applicants. As with all other applicants, we treat their applications on an individual basis," he said in an email.
"But all things being equal, among those applicants who we believe are among the most competitive, legacy status may turn out to be a tipping point in their favor," he said.
Lewis said Harvard does not accept legacy applicants over more-qualified non-legacy applicants.
But, she said, "If all else is equal, we think it's quite reasonable . . . We don't give up anything in the way of quality."
On its website, Brown University says it has a similar policy.
At the University of Virginia — a public university where 11 percent of the class of 2006 is legacy — the biggest advantage of legacy status is for out-of-state students, said Dean of Admission John Blackburn. The university makes what Blackburn called "a major concession" by treating out-of-state legacy students like instate students.
Blackburn said the acceptance rate for out-of-state students is approximately 25 percent, while it is approximately 50 percent for instate applicants and out-of-state legacies. For instate legacies, very little preference is given.
David Karen, a sociology professor at Bryn Mawr College, said that admissions offices do not just consider what kinds of students they want at the school: They also consider what kinds of students they want as alumni.
Echoing Edwards' statement that universities are giving additional privileges to the already privileged, Karen expressed concern that the wrong students are being rewarded. He said legacy students are receiving additional consideration when they already have important advantages. Karen named higher incomes, parents with good educations and excellent schooling as the advantages the legacy applicants often already have before applying.
Blackburn said he thinks Edwards' proposal is part of the assumption that legacy admissions give the advantage to white applicants. Yet, Blackburn argued that research shows the percentage of alumni that are black will equal the percentage of students at the University of Virginia who are black by 2020.
"This is a criticism leveled at any legacy admission program," Blackburn said. "But, with each year that goes along, that becomes less and less of an issue."
Money matters
Universities have given many reasons for the advantage given to legacy students. "That we give legacy status any consideration at all is out of enormous respect for all that our alumni do to make it possible for us to enroll lots of terrific students every year," Hargadon said.
"Their generosity in giving back to the University is what largely makes it possible for those of in admissions to be able to make our admission decisions on a need-blind basis," he added.
Though the University of Virginia is a public university, due to recent budget cuts, Blackburn said the university relies on pleasing alumni to encourage their donations to the university.
"As support from the state dwindles, revenue from alumni becomes more and more important," Blackburn said.
What is merit
As a result of this debate, many education scholars are examining the idea of merit. If legacy should not be a factor in admissions, what factors should count? Bowen and Bok contended that SAT scores are used "as if these measures were the sole legitimate basis for admission and that other considerations were somehow insubstantial or even morally suspect."
"Deciding which students have the most 'merit' depends on what one is trying to achieve," they wrote.
Like Bowen and Bok, Karen said that if admission is based purely on SAT or ACT scores, it is not a fair judgment as these scores tend to be correlated with family income and wealth.
Concerns about affirmative action also intersect with these questions. The Supreme Court is currently examining racial preferences in college admissions, and the verdict could have bearing on legacy admissions. In his speech, Edwards differentiated between affirmative action and legacy admissions.
"Unlike affirmative action, which I support, the legacy preference does not reward overcoming barriers based on race or adding diversity to the classroom," Edwards said.
Karen said he thinks Edwards' idea provides a chance to consider what merit means.
"This might provide an opportunity for us to think about . . . how we define the notion of merit," Karen said. "That's obviously the thing that we're struggling over."
But whereas affirmative action is now a focus of public debate, legacy preferences may not grow beyond Edwards' platform.
"Whatever anyone might think of the proposal by would-be presidential candidate, Senator Edwards," Hargadon said, "it strikes me as pretty minor-league stuff for him to be throwing out there, given the major problems facing any president of this country."
"Next thing you know, he'll be making baseball's strike zone part of his platform," he said.
But while administrators and politicians debate the merits of legacy preference, students will continue to have a preference of their own.
"Being a legacy is one of the major factors why I chose Princeton over Harvard and Duke, but it has affected me more since I have been here," Trevor Smith '03 said. "After being immersed in Princeton for three and a half years, I have a huge appreciation for Princeton and the history of this university. I also am proud to be a fourth generation student here."
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