For nearly 178 years it was legal for colleges to racially discriminate. In 1954 the supreme court ruled that racial discrimination in schools was unconstitutional but did not set a firm timeline by which discriminatory policies must end. Most colleges did not begin making efforts to integrate till the mid 1960’s. In 1978 the Supreme court ruled that setting racial quotas for college admissions was unconstitutional. It was allowed that the race of the applicant could be considered, but that there could be no reserved seats based on racial identity.
Affirmative action by racial quota was only possible, though not widely utilized, for 24 years.
Today at least 578 colleges, including all the Ivy League, consider legacy (being the child or relative of an alumni) in their admissions.
Yale was founded 322 years ago and has approximately 180,000 living alumni. Yale did not regularly admit Black students till 1964. The current student body is 7% Black.
In 2023 Yale received 50,060 applications but only admitted 2,503, which is a 5% acceptance rate. The acceptance rate for legacy applicants was 14%.
Students for Fair Admissions Inc, the organization that has been systematically suing colleges for considering race in college admissions, has never brought a lawsuit against legacy admissions.
Below is a sampling of the most recent admissions numbers and associated acceptance rates for legacy applicants:
Harvard 61,221 applicants, 3% accepted. 16% legacy accepted.
Yale 50,060 applicants, 5% accepted. 14% legacy accepted.
Princeton 38,019 applicants, 6% accepted. 31% legacy accepted.
Columbia 60,879 applicants, 4% accepted. Legacy rate not available.
Brown 50,649 applicants, 5% accepted. 12% legacy accepted.
Dartmouth 28,3366 applicants, 6% accepted. 10% legacy accepted.
U Penn 54,588 applicants, 7% accepted. 22% legacy accepted.
Cornell 69,195 applicants, 7% accepted. 37% legacy accepted.
Stanford 56,378 applicants, 4% accepted. 16% legacy accepted.
Colleges are allowed to reserve seats for the children and relatives of alumni. For most of their histories, colleges barred or restricted the admission of Black students resulting in a predominance of legacy applicants being white. Thanks to the persistent legal work of Students for Fair Admissions Inc. colleges may not consider race in college admissions.
Again, Students for Fair Admissions Inc. has never sued to end legacy admissions.
Their work has never been honestly about fairness.