As President Donald Trump attempts to reshape college admissions, he’s promising a new era of fairness, with an emphasis on merit and test scores and a blind eye toward diversity.
Yet the Republican president’s critics — and some allies — are questioning his silence on admissions policies that give applicants a boost because of their wealth or family ties. While he has pressed colleges to eliminate any possible consideration of a student’s race, he has made no mention of legacy admissions, an edge given to the children of alumni, or similar preferences for the relatives of donors.
Trump often rails against systems he describes as “rigged,” but he has overlooked a glaring instance in higher education, said Richard Kahlenberg, a researcher at the Progressive Policy Institute think tank who has written about admissions.
“It’s hard to think of a more flagrant way in which the system is rigged than legacy preferences,” Kahlenberg said. “Rarely is a system of hereditary privilege so openly practiced without any sense of shame.”
In recent weeks, Trump has taken several actions to scrub any vestiges of race from admissions decisions, suggesting that some schools are ignoring a 2023 Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action. His administration negotiated settlements with Brown and Columbia universities that included provisions to share admissions data. Last week, Trump issued a call for colleges nationwide to submit data to prove they do not consider race in admissions.
Some are urging Trump to go further.
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., applauded the settlement with Brown requiring the university to turn a blind eye toward race — even in application essays. But “restoring meritocracy warrants more,” said Young, who cosponsored legislation in 2023 aiming to end legacy admissions.
“Federally accredited institutions should eliminate ALL preferences grounded in arbitrary circumstances of ancestry that students have no control over, such as legacy status,” Young said on social media.
Many selective colleges consider family ties
Sometimes called “affirmative action for the rich,” the practice of legacy admissions remains widespread among elite colleges even as it faces mounting bipartisan opposition. Virginia’s Republican governor signed a bill last year barring legacy admissions at public institutions, following similar measures in Colorado, California and elsewhere. Some Republicans in Congress have worked with Democrats on proposals to end it nationwide.