The Department of Education is declaring war on legacy preferences in college admissions. It has opened an investigation into Harvard for giving admissions preference to the children of alumni. The legal basis for doing so is dubious, and the apparent assumption of Democrats that this is a political wedge issue favoring their side is questionable. That being said, a significant rollback of legacy admissions preferences would be a good thing, and it’s broadly popular.
As a matter of policy, the case against legacy admissions is well known and persuasive. College admissions are a zero-sum competition, and their importance as a gateway or barrier to opportunity and a shaper of social class has grown enormously in recent decades. Given how much influence major colleges have on the hierarchy of American society, Americans rightly feel that colleges should dispense those opportunities fairly, on the basis of some form of merit.
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