Legacy preferences took hold at elite private colleges in the 1920s. They spread as schools such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton sought to limit the number of Jewish students while protecting spots for the children of alumni. Because Black students were excluded or rare at these schools for generations, few Black families could benefit.
The advantage is large. Data from the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard case showed that legacy applicants to the classes of 2014 through 2019 had an admission rate of about 34 percent, compared with roughly 6 percent overall. After the Supreme Court ended race-conscious admissions in 2023, critics asked why preferences for alumni children should remain.
Some schools, including Johns Hopkins and Amherst, had already dropped legacy preferences. Colorado banned them at public colleges in 2021. In 2024, Virginia and Illinois banned them at public colleges, Maryland became the first state to ban them at private colleges too, and California banned them at private colleges receiving state aid starting in 2025.