Virginia bans legacy admission to public universities and colleges

Virginia will end legacy admissions to public universities after Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill Friday banning the practice that gives a boost to applicants with family ties to alumni.

below House Bill 48public universities in the state will not be allowed to give preferential treatment to applicants based on their connections, not only with alumni but also with donors. This means that universities can no longer give benefits to applicants whose relatives make donations to the school. Critics of such preferences have said for years that the age-old practice perpetuates privilege.

The ban will particularly affect the University of Virginia and William & Mary, which are among the nation’s more selective public universities. Virginia Tech, another prestigious public university, al announced last year that an applicant’s inheritance status would no longer be taken into account in the admissions process.

The law, which passed unanimously in the Virginia House of Delegates and the State Senate this year, will take effect July 1 after eligibility decisions are made this fall. Mr. Youngkin, a Republican, said in a statement in January that he believed “admission to Virginia universities and colleges should be based on merit.”

Virginia is the second state after Colorado to ban probate, and similar legislation is being considered in New York and Connecticut, among others.

State Senator Schuyler T. VanValkenburg, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, said he was pleasantly surprised by the bipartisan support for the ban. He said he hoped Virginia’s decision would prompt other states to follow suit, which he said would help promote diversity in college admissions.

“It’s kind of an indefensible policy, especially in light of the fact that affirmative action has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court,” Mr. VanValkenburg said in an interview. “There are many ways to measure merit, but we know that older recordings aren’t really about merit at all.”

The University of Virginia did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday.

William & Mary said in a rack that it does not expect the legislation to have a significant impact on its admissions process, as the university does not have a separate standard for applicants with legacy status. But data from the school showed that accepted applicants with the status were more than twice as likely to enroll at the school as other accepted applicants. The university provided no comment other than a reference to the statement.

Legacy admissions have come under renewed scrutiny after the Supreme Court last June struck down affirmative action at colleges and universities and banned considerations of race in job applications.

The movement to abolish probate has received support from both Republicans and Democrats at various levels of government. President Biden has also weighed in, saying such preferences “increase privilege rather than opportunity.”

Senators Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, and Todd Young, a Republican from Indiana, are pushing for a ban on the practice at the federal level. They have in November introduced the Merit-Based Educational Reforms and Institutional Transparency Act, which would establish federal standards for reviewing college admissions processes and make illegal considerations of an applicant’s estate and donor status. The bill is being discussed by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

In a joint rackSenators applauded the new law in Virginia. “Now let’s build on this success and pass our bill to end legacy and donor preferences nationwide,” Mr. Kaine and Mr. Young said. “This will promote upward mobility and fairness in the admissions process.”

But critics of such measures argue that there are adverse consequences to banning inheritance considerations and that minority students can actually benefit from having family ties in higher education. There are also concerns about the impact on alumni donor relationships if legacy withdrawals are no longer allowed.

This year, an organization of conservative Virginia alumni known as the Jefferson Council said it was divided over the Virginia legislation.

“We believe so,” James A. Bacon, the group’s executive director, wrote in an email. On the one hand, he says, intergenerational families tend to be more loyal and generous toward college. “On the other hand, we support merit-based admission based on character and academic performance.” The group did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

Since the Supreme Court’s ruling, several selective private schools, including Wesleyan University and New York University, have decided to eliminate old preferences. But many private colleges, including Harvard, Yale and Brown, have not. The U.S. Department of Education has opened investigations into Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania and their use of legacy preferences.

“Legacy admissions are inherently unfair,” Mr. VanValkenburg said, adding that universities that rely heavily on the practice “distort what a freshman class looks like.”

Stephanie Saul And Vimal Patel reporting contributed.