Legacy Admissions Offer An Advantage — And Not Just At Schools Like Harvard

For years, Harvard University’s admissions office has given a “tip” to legacy students, or students with at least one parent who graduated from Harvard or Radcliffe, its former sister school.

The size and nature of that “tip” was officially unclear — until a federal judge compelled Harvard to share six years of admissions data. That reveal came ahead of a recently concluded federal trial, in which Harvard stood accused of discriminating against Asian-American applicants. Expert analyses of Harvard’s data, prepared by both parties in the lawsuit, disagree on many counts; but both say legacy preference can make a big difference. And that’s not just the case at Harvard.

Forty-two percent of private institutions and 6 percent of public institutions consider legacy status as a factor in admissions, according to a 2018 survey of admissions directors by Inside Higher Ed.