The Times takes on college legacy preferences: Let’s hope it is the knock-out punch
Mark your calendars: today could turn out to be an important date in the history of U.S. higher education. For the first time in its 168-year history, the New York Times Editorial Board has offered an opinion on the practice of legacy preferences in college admissions. The Board rightly lambasts this outdated hereditary principle:
“Preferential treatment for legacy admissions is anti-meritocratic, inhibits social mobility and helps perpetuate a de facto class system. In short, it is an engine of inequity. Little wonder that it is unpopular with most Americans, yet supported by the affluent who both oversee the college admissions process and are its primary beneficiaries.”