Governor Glenn Youngkin has signed a bill to prohibit legacy admissions to public colleges and universities.
In recent years, one out of 10 students admitted to the University of Virginia was a legacy admission according to one study — that’s a student who got a leg up on other applicants based on family connections. Now, that system is about to become a thing of the past as Virginia becomes the second state after Colorado to ban legacy admissions and admissions based on donor status.
"We believe that it is discriminatory to provide an advantage to folks not based on what they did in high school and not based on the particulars," says Delegate Dan Helmer, a Democrat from Fairfax County who introduced the bill. "But based simply on whether their parents had been graduates."
Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg is a Democrat from Henrico who says other states are likely to look at Virginia as being on the vanguard of this issue, especially considering the competitive nature of schools like the College of William and Mary.
"Public universities can't take into account legacy admissions when accepting students," VanValkenburg says. "It doesn't mean that legacy admissions couldn't gain acceptance, just that it couldn't be a point in their favor."
Recent years have seen schools dial back legacy admissions, and the legislation sailed through the House and Senate with no opposition and no debate. Now that the governor has signed the bill, the admissions process will change for the freshman class of 2025.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
