In Wisconsin, few colleges and universities consider “legacy” status in admissions decisions, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel review. And because most Wisconsin schools accept far more students than they reject, it’s likely many legacy students would have gotten in regardless of their family’s history of attendance.
But there’s another way in which legacy can benefit already advantaged students: Some schools offer scholarships specifically for students with a family member who graduated from there. At least 13 Wisconsin institutions do, according to the news organization’s review of 28 school scholarship websites.
Richard Kahlenberg, a nonresident scholar at Georgetown University and longtime critic of legacy preference, called legacy scholarships “equally troubling.” He urged institutions to phase them out, especially if scholarship criteria don’t consider other factors, too, such as financial need.
“To the extent that (schools are) trying to diversify in new ways after the Supreme Court ruling, then having a scholarship for legacy students seems counterproductive,” he said.