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Diving overview:
- Connecticut lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday that would ban the state's public and private colleges and universities from using legacy admissions to give preferential treatment to applicants with alumni connections.
- Lawmakers on the state Higher Education Commission also added a measure banning policies that provide admissions benefits to applicants with ties to college donors.
- If passed, Connecticut could become the first state to ban legacy preferences in both public and private institutions of higher education.
Dive Insights:
Legacy admissions has come under increased scrutiny since the U.S. Supreme Court. Ruling against race-based admissions last year. Research shows that critics of legacy preferences say they harm students who are already disadvantaged. These policies are beneficial to applicants. White and rich.
Colorado became the first state to ban legacy admissions at public universities in 2021.
last week Newly signed Virginia law It went one step further by prohibiting public universities from using policies that favor existing applicants or donors.
Connecticut Senator Derek Slap co-chairs the Legislature's Higher Education Committee. Virginia cited the Connecticut bill as inspiration for adding a donor ban.
The proposal could become a test case for a ban on legacy preferences, as Connecticut has several organizations that publicly oppose the bill.
“Every time I see this issue, it strikes me that the existing admissions preferences are completely wrong.” State Representative Gregg Haddad, Co-chairman of Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee said during Thursday's meeting.
Haddad said that for Connecticut colleges and universities to maintain nonprofit status, they must reflect the state's values, including meritocracy.
Connecticut previously attempted to ban legacy admissions in 2022, but lawmakers took significant action. University leaders' backlash.
Jeremiah Quinlan, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid at Yale University, said: In written testimony this year, Connecticut lawmakers said they should not interfere. By admission decision.
“The state should not dictate how colleges and universities make admissions decisions, just as the state should not dictate who we hire as professors or what we teach in our curriculum,” Quinlan said.
but slap It withdrew that claim on Thursday.
“The reality is that they do not yet have institutional freedoms.” he said, citing the U.S. Supreme Court's ban on race-based admissions.
Under the proposed bill, colleges would still be able to ask applicants about their legacy status, but that information could only be used to track student demographics, Slap said.
Legacy preferences are also under fire at the federal level. A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate last November would amend the Higher Education Act to ban legacy preferences at accredited educational institutions..
The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether legacy preferences exist at some select colleges and universities. including Harvard UniversityThis constitutes racial discrimination.
Agency also revealed Last year's legacy admissions data, found that nearly 600 universities use this practice. But universities self-reported their practices, leaving room for error.