Noah Jabusch
OPINION: Access to higher education: Why legacy admissions should stop at NC State
Public education has long been a great equalizer in society, as a strong showing in high school can readily lead to acceptance at a good college and then to a good job. Although millennials have infamously struggled with student debt and a lack of job options, college grads continue to earn consistently higher incomes than those with only a high school diploma.
Indeed, USA Today finds an increasing income inequality between college and high school graduates which shows few signs of stopping. There are a number of ways we as a society might address the systemic issues leading to this trend, but in any scenario, college will continue to serve as a way to get ahead. We should ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to access the resources of a rigorous university education.
Legacy admissions, as usually practiced, run contrary to this goal by giving preferential treatment to the children of alumni. Regardless of how accomplished a particular institution or its graduates may be, there can be no defense for why a parent’s success should determine a child’s future, beyond any genetic or economic advantages they necessarily confer.
As a recent article from The News and Observer explains, Duke, NC State and several of the nation’s top schools give preference to the children of alumni during the admissions process. The piece cites a former chancellor of New York City public schools, saying, “An analysis of 30 top schools found that legacy applicants had a 23 percentage point increase in their chances of being admitted when compared to otherwise similar candidates.”
Among the sources listed on NC State’s admissions profile page, none list information about what proportion of admitted students are related to alumni, so it’s difficult to say how much preferential treatment is given to legacy applicants. As admission to NC State becomes increasingly competitive, even small considerations such as legacy status can make a difference in an applicant’s chances, so long as they continue to be included in NC State’s application.
As a public, land-grant university, our highest priority should be educating the citizens of North Carolina, so they are better prepared to compete in the global economy. Giving some people a boost based on their parentage serves nothing in the way of increasing our students’ competitiveness or ensuring we have the most dedicated student body.
According to the piece from the News and Observer, legacy admissions can even harm the chances of first-generation college students. These people by definition don’t have parent alumni and often come from a lower socioeconomic background because of the high school-college income disparity.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, on average for the 2011-2012 school year, 26 percent of students at public, four-year institutions like NC State are first-generation college students. Among the 2017 first-year class at State, only 11 percent of students were first-generation. The university should strive to reach as many first-generation students as possible, but currently, it’s clear we aren’t meeting the mark.
There are assuredly a number of factors that contribute to this underperformance, but while some are outside the university’s control, refusing to consider whether a student’s parents attended the university is a simple way of making the admissions process fairer to those without a family history of college attendance.
As strong as our love for the Wolfpack is, we must not be partial towards those fortunate enough to have Pack alumni for parents. Our pack thrives off recruiting students from a wide array of backgrounds, but giving an edge to legacy Pack members undermines our obligation to expand opportunity to more North Carolinians and people across the world.