Washington (AP) – Just like President Donald Trump tries to Restructuring university enrollmenthe focuses on merit and test scores, turning a blind eye to diversity, and commits to a new era of fairness.
However, critics of the Republican president, and some allies, have questioned his silence on admissions policies that will boost applicants for wealth and family ties. He is pressing the university to eliminate potential student race considerations, but he does not mention it. Legacy Admissionthe edge given to alumni children, or similar preferences for donor relatives.
Trump often opposes the system he describes as “equipment,” but overlooks obvious cases of higher education, says Richard Cullenberg, a researcher at the Progressive Policy Institute Think Tank, who wrote about admissions.
“It’s hard to think of a worse way the system is equipped than its legacy preference,” Carlenberg said. “It is rarely a system of genetic privilege that is openly practiced without embarrassment.”
Over the past few weeks, Trump has taken several actions to scrub traces of race from his admission decision, suggesting that some schools are ignoring 2023. Supreme Court decision Defeat positive actions. His administration negotiated universities and settlements in Brown and Columbia, including provisions for sharing admission data. Last week, Trump issued a nationwide university appeal and submitted data to prove he didn’t consider the race of admission.
Some urge Trump to go further.
Senator Todd Young, r-ind. , praised A village with Brown Requiring universities to turn their eyes on race – Application Essay. But “restoration of meritocracy guarantees more,” said Young, who shared the legislation with the aim of ending legacy admissions in 2023.
“Federally accredited agencies should eliminate all preferences based on arbitrary volitional situations that are out of the control of their ancestors, such as legacy status,” Young said on social media.
Many selective universities consider family ties
Although sometimes referred to as “positive behaviour for the rich,” the practice of legacy admission remains widespread Elite College Even if they face bipartisan opposition. Virginia’s Republican governor signed the bill last year Except for legacy admission Public agencies follow similar measures in California and other states of Colorado. Some Republicans in Congress have worked with Democrats to help propose to end it all across the country.
According to a 2023 disclosure to the federal government, around 500 universities consider legacy status when evaluating applicants, including more than half of the nation’s most selective US schools. There are a few Policy has been abandonedbut it remains in all eight Ivy League schools.
Stanford said it will continue to consider legacy status in July, even after California law bans it at state financially aid agencies. Rather than ending the practice, Stanford chose to withdraw from the state’s student financial aid program. The university said it would replace the funds with internal money even if it launches layoffs to close the $140 million budget deficit.
Stanford officials declined to comment. Last year, as part of the state’s transparency law, the school reported that around 14% of freshmen were relatives of graduates or donors.
Promoting benefits, but there is no mention of legacy admission.
Executive Action, signed by Trump last week, requires universities to apply to campus and take over more information about accepted students. Taxpayers “deserve confidence in the fairness and integrity” of the decision, his memorandum added that more information is needed to ensure that the university is mindful of the Supreme Court decision.
A week ago, the Department of Justice issued a memo that clarified what was considered illegal discrimination in admission. Not only are the obvious racial considerations, but the racial “proxy” is also problematic. This includes “geographic targeting” and personal essays asking applicants about obstacles they have overcome.
Similar languages requiring “met-based” admissions policies were included in government resolutions with Brown and Columbia University. Neither action mentioned legacy admission.
Trump’s silence caught the attention of nonprofit lawyers for civil rights. Open complaints In the education sector, which claims that Harvard donors and alumni preferential use is worthy of illegal racism. The group’s 2023 complaint states that the practice will benefit white students overwhelmingly.
If the Trump administration wants to make admission meritocratic, it should start by ending heritage preferences, said Oren Selstrom, the group’s litigation director.
“These deeply, non-competent preferences simply reward students based on who their parents are. It’s difficult to imagine anything more unfair or opposed to the basic principle of merit,” he said.
Few Americans support legacy and donor preferences
The university defends the practice by saying it builds a community and encourages families to become donors. Some supporters say they are increasingly helping non-white students as campuses become more diverse.
President Joe Biden, a then-Democrat, urged the university to rethink legacy preferences following the Supreme Court ruling, saying it had expanded its “privilege in place of opportunity.” Some people were afraid Drive the white registration When the positive action is finished.
Georgetown University reviewed the policy but maintained it this year after the legacy applicant pool concluded that similar makeup was found in the larger admission pool.
AP-NORC polls In 2023, it was discovered that most Americans had a dim view of heritage and donor preferences.
The university needs to tell the federal government whether to consider legacy status, but it does not need to reveal how far it will tilt the scale or how many legacy students it will accept. Of the 20 most selective universities that adopt the practice, no one tells the Associated Press that the proportion of classes that come in has a relationship with family members with graduates or donors.
Trump’s electric shock to eradicate racial preferences rests on the argument that it undermines the merits. New scrutiny is needed to ensure that the university receives the Supreme Court order and “a new scrutiny is needed to ensure that future physicians, engineers, scientists, scientists and other workers are recruited and trained,” he said in his enforcement action.
That argument sends the message that minority students are “intelligently suspected until they prove otherwise,” said Justin Driver, a Yale Law professor with an upcoming book on positive behaviour. He worries that Trump’s latest actions will threaten universities to limit minority enrollment in order to avoid raising government suspicions.
“I believe the US faces a lot of problems today,” Driver said. “There’s not too many black students on top university campuses.”
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