Virginia to end traditional public college admissions requirements

Virginia plans to ban senior student preference programs at its public universities, which give children of alumni a bonus when they apply for admission.

The state’s House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill Tuesday that would eliminate preferential benefits. The Senate did that last week.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office said he would sign the legislation, saying in a statement that he “believes that admissions to Virginia’s universities and colleges should be based on merit.” The law would go into effect July 1, after admissions decisions for the fall 2024 semester are made.

The ban, which would affect two of the nation’s more selective public universities, the University of Virginia and William & Mary, is another indication that older college admissions exams, which mainly benefit students who are white, wealthy and well-connected , are declining around the world. country. Virginia Tech, another prestigious public university in the state, announced last year that the legacy status would no longer be taken into account.

Legacy admissions became a target last year, shortly after the Supreme Court banned admissions based on race. President Biden said legacy preferences expand “privileges rather than opportunities.”

Following the Supreme Court ruling in June, several highly selective private schools, including Wesleyan University, announced they would eliminate legacy preferences. And New York University said it would remove a checkbox on its application asking whether prospective students were legacies.

They joined several selective colleges that had already eliminated legacy preferences or never used them, including MIT, Johns Hopkins, Amherst College, and the University of California system.

The state of Colorado has banned legacy preferences at its public universities, and similar legislation banning the practice has been introduced Congress and in states such as Connecticut and New York.

But many elite private universities — including Harvard, Yale and Brown — continue to favor the children of alumni. Data recently released by the Department of Education shows that nearly 600 colleges and universities consider legacy status in admissions.

Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania are the subject of federal Department of Education investigations into their use of legacy preferences and whether the practice violates civil rights. The Harvard investigation began after a complaint filed by three advocacy groups.

The Virginia bill, which still needs to go through more legislative maneuvering before it goes to the governor for his signature, would also ban consideration of “donor status” in admissions to state institutions. A practice in which wealthy parents or other relatives could secure admission for their children by donating money for new buildings or programs.

Dan Helmer, a Democrat who sponsored the bill in the Virginia House, said the time had come to level the playing field.

“The vast majority of Virginians, whether Democrat, Republican or Independent, want a university system that admits students based on who they are and what they have done, and not based on who their parents are,” said Mr. Helmer.

Mr. Helmer, a West Point graduate, said none of the state universities had taken a public position against the legislation, although he suggested they may have lobbied privately. “A few universities may have come along,” he added, “and I said, ‘If you want to publish it publicly, you can.’”

The University of Virginia, where pre-college students make up as much as 14 percent of new students, recently updated its admissions application to remove the check box for pre-college student status. However, students can still indicate in their admissions essay whether or not they are an already enrolled student.

Brian T. Coy, a spokesman for the University of Virginia, said in a statement Tuesday that it is the university’s policy not to comment on pending legislation. “For decades, U.Va. has evaluated each applicant for undergraduate admission as an individual with a unique story and combination of strengths,” he said, “rather than through weighted methods and checkboxes.”

A conservative Virginia alumni organization known as the Jefferson Council has not taken a position on the legislation, according to its executive director, James A. Bacon.

“We believe so,” Mr. Bacon wrote in an email. On the one hand, he says, intergenerational families tend to be more loyal, committed and generous toward college. “On the other hand, we support merit-based admission based on character and academic performance,” he wrote.

William & Mary is also considering legacy admissions. In a statement, the university said it would comment on the potential impact of the bill after final passage. In the statement, university spokeswoman Suzanne Clavet said the school’s data showed that accepted applicants who were legacy enrolled at the school at more than twice the rate of other accepted applicants.