Time may finally be up for legacy inclusion, thanks to a bipartisan bill being considered on Capitol Hill.
“The fact that your parents or grandparents had sheepskin [diploma] from a particular college on the wall shouldn’t affect your ability to get into that college,” Senator Todd Young told me.
Young is a co-sponsor of the MERIT (Merit-Based Education Reform and Institutional Transparency) Act that was introduced in Congress last November.
The legislation would prohibit colleges and universities that receive federal funding from considering applicants’ heritage status in the admissions process.
It’s time for hard work, determination and excellence to be valued over wealth, privilege and special consideration in the admissions office.
“My motivation is to restore what most Americans believe in: meritocracy — work hard, play by the rules, develop your talents, and you should be able to get ahead,” Young said.
Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat, is a co-sponsor of the MERIT Act. CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images
The Indiana senator, who is a Republican, co-sponsored the bill with Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia.
“This is non-ideological, non-partisan and very popular with the American people,” Young said. “Republicans, Democrats, independents, liberals, conservatives — all agree with the notion that rich people shouldn’t be able to buy their children and grandchildren [way] to an elite college.”
The MERIT Act would amend the Higher Education Act, which provides federal money to colleges and universities, by changing accreditation standards.
It would ban any “preferential treatment” in the admissions process to receive federal funds.
Scrutiny of legacy admissions practices was renewed last year, when the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions.
Young said legacy admissions give related candidates an anti-meritocratic edge. Getty Images
If race shouldn’t be considered in the admissions process, why should other factors beyond an applicant’s control — like how much money your family makes or who your parents are — play a role? Inheritance is, effectively, affirmative action for the privileged.
Although Young, himself a highly selective graduate of the University of Chicago, was already interested in eliminating inheritance acceptance before the Supreme Court’s June decision, he said the ruling inspired him to introduce the bill.
“I have decided that this is a wrong that needs to be corrected, and I feel like there is a chance to succeed in this area… after the Supreme Court’s decision,” he said.
Heritage admissions are widespread in academia. According to Education Reform Now, about half of schools consider legacy status in the admissions process in 2020. And this practice is most common at elite colleges — 80% of them consider legacy status
Harvard has come under particular scrutiny for its practices, and rightfully so.
Legacy applicants to Harvard University have an acceptance rate of 33%. Wikipedia
A 2019 analysis of Harvard admissions data from 2009 to 2014 by the National Bureau of Economic Research reveals how many applicants have higher connections in the admissions process at elite universities.
Although the overall admission rate at Harvard was only 6%, 33.6% of bequests were accepted and 42.2% of those on the “beneficiary list”, which often denoted a relationship with the donor, were admitted.
The researchers also found that 43% of white students at Harvard are legacies, children of faculty, relatives of donors or recruited athletes – and 3 out of 4 of those students likely wouldn’t have been accepted otherwise.
“”There is a sense that so many of our institutions are rigged to favor entrenched interests,” Young said. “And in this case, the entrenched interests are wealthier individuals who are effectively writing checks to their parents to get children. , grandchildren or their family friends.
“It basically overrides the merits,” he added.
Wesleyan University rejected legacy admissions consideration after the Supreme Court decision in June. Universal Image Group via Getty Images
If the MERIT Act goes into effect, it will affect Harvard’s federal funding. Despite having a $50 billion endowment, the university received $625 million in federal dollars in 2021 — representing two-thirds of its endowment revenue for the year.
But the tide is turning. Education Reform Now also found that 100 schools have eliminated heritage admissions considerations between 2015 and 2022.
Highly selective schools such as Johns Hopkins, Amherst College and Wesleyan University have abolished the practice. And MIT never considers a donor’s legacy or relationship status in its admissions process.
Local lawmakers across the country have also targeted heritage inclusion.
MIT is unusual as an elite school that never considers legacy status or donor ties in its admissions process. David McGlynn
The practice was banned at Colorado public colleges in 2021.
In New York, Democratic State Senator Andrew Gounardes introduced the fair college admissions act last year, which is now in committee in the senate.
Now, Young and Kaine are looking to realize that effort in a federal effort.
“I’ve always been frustrated by injustice, especially barriers to people realizing their full human potential and biases that undermine incentives to work hard,” Young said of his personal motivation for sponsoring the MERIT Bill.
I hope they succeed. The only way to restore faith in higher education is to restore meritocracy on campus.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
