Sen. Slap Leads Senate Passage of Legacy Admissions Reporting Bill

Late Wednesday State Senator Derek Slap, Chair of the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee, led passage of a piece of legislation aimed at exploring the use of ‘legacy admissions’ in institutions of higher education.

The bill requires colleges and universities to either attest that the institution does not consider a prospective student’s familial relationship to a university alumnus or donor, or the institution must submit a report on admissions and enrollment data. The report must include a breakdown of several attributes of admitted students, including the admittance rate of legacy or donor related students against students without such relations.

With this passage of this bill, Connecticut joins the national conversation on transparency and fairness in higher education. There have been bipartisan proposals in Congress to address legacy admissions, and a provision banning legacy admissions just passed on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis in Virginia.

Reportedly, no public universities consider familial relationship to an alumnus or donor in the application process, and only a handful of Connecticut institutions have publicly said that they consider these factors.

“I am very gratified that Connecticut is part of the national conversation about fairness and transparency in college admissions and this bill moves us another step forward,” said Sen. Slap. “I am hopeful that the data gained from the required reporting will help inform the legislature on how to best proceed next January. I remain committed to trying to make the college admissions process for Connecticut students as fair as possible.”

“Access to the most selective colleges in Connecticut should be based on merit, not whether a student is a family legacy or related to a donor. By advancing this bill, Senator Slap has led an effort to increase transparency and fairness in the admissions process, and we are looking forward to seeing this legislation become law,” said Amy Dowell, Education Reform Now CT.

The bill now heads to the House for debate and passage.