As lawmakers continue the lengthy process of reauthorizing theHigher Education Act, some on Capital Hill are considering curbingcontroversial legacy and early-decision admissions programs used bymany colleges and universities.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) has expressed concerns in theform of a proposal that legacy and early-admission programs areunfair to poor or minority students.
Colleges and universities that use legacy admission programsgive more consideration to prospective students whose parents arealumni. Those institutions that employ early-decision admissionprograms require prospective students to pledge to attend a collegeif accepted. In most cases "pledging" to attend the college meanspaying a fee in exchange for a guaranteed slot in the upcomingfall's freshman class.
Opponents of these programs, like Kennedy, say they give anunfair advantage to those students who cannot afford the pledge toattend a college or whose parents are not alumni of the institutionof their choice.
The proposal, which will likely be translated into legislationthis month, calls for reduced federal funds to those institutionsthat employ either a legacy or early-decision admission program.Under the proposal, institutions with a minority graduation rate of10 percent or less will also be required to use school-raised fundsto establish minority student retention programs.
Among the proposal's supporters is David Ward, president of theAmerican Council on Education. Ward, with the backing of severalcollege lobbying organizations, sent a letter to Kennedy listingtheir objections.
"We believe the proposal, while well intentioned, suffers fromseveral serious flaws," Ward wrote. "Historically, the executiveand legislative branches of the government have left decisionsabout admissions, the content of educational programs andgraduation requirements to the educators."
However, Jim Manley, Kennedy's press secretary, refused tocomment about the letter or the senator's proposal.
"That's a strong no comment," Manley said. "The senator is inthe process of making some final decisions about what should beincluded in reauthorizing (the Higher Education Act)."
While there are many colleges and universities that use theseadmissions policies as a way to ensure they recruit the best andbrightest, many institutions like The University of Memphis havenever employed such tactics and have no plans to start suchprograms.
"The University of Memphis has a different approach toadmissions," said Gloria Moore, U of M associate director ofadmissions. "We don't do that here."
Although Moore had no opinion on whether or not those programswork for or against poor and minority students, she said TheUniversity does have an early admission program.
The U of M early admission program allows high school studentsto submit their college entrance exam scores, incompletetranscripts and grade point averages for admission consideration.The University will then either admit or reject theapplication.
Those students who are admitted under The U of M early admissionprogram must submit a final transcript before they are officiallyadmitted. The U of M does not require students to pay a fee to holdtheir place in the freshman class nor does it give greaterconsideration to alumni offspring.
"I've been at The University of Memphis for 27 years, and weadmit students on the basis of their qualifications," she said.
