Mass Live: Lawmakers seek to tax Harvard University, other schools that favor legacy applicants
“For any highly selective school with a billion dollar endowment to say on the one hand that they are defending their right to give preference to generationally wealthy students, and put the other hand down and ask for more money for financial aid from the government, I think, conveys a lack of understanding of what’s going on in the real world,” [Cataldo] said.
From: Mass Live
Excerpt:
“Earlier this week, the Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights against Harvard University. The legal group claims that the Ivy League school’s legacy admissions practices overwhelmingly prefer white applicants, while systematically disadvantaging applicants of color.
Although Harvard University refused to comment on the legislation, the school has defended its use of legacy admissions in the past. In a June 2018 filing to the Massachusetts federal court, the school said that its consideration of legacy applicants, “helps to cement strong bonds between the university and its alumni” and that alumni help financially support the school.
Without giving consideration to legacy applicants, Harvard could endure “substantial costs,” the school argued. However, Cataldo pointed out that MIT and UMass Amherst were able to raise billion-dollar endowments without using legacy preferences.
Cataldo, a former math teacher, has firsthand experience working with students from low-income backgrounds. Many of these students, he said, were gatekept from attending highly elite schools, particularly due to the early decision process.
Research shows that early decision – a binding admissions process where a student can apply to a college by Nov. 1 and receive a decision by mid-December – largely benefits affluent white students. Since these applicants are usually wealthy and well-resourced, they can afford to commit to a binding agreement with a college before knowing its full costs.
However, less advantaged students, “are prohibited from using that as an option for admission, while wealthy students especially those who have college advisors, and whose private schools get them ready for applications before even their senior year arrives, hose are the students who can apply early binding decisions,” Cataldo said.”
