Will The College Playing Field be More Even?
- spmedia7
- Feb 20
- 3 min read
By Liv Barry, Natalie Hefka, Tara Nyima
BREAKING NEWS: College acceptances may become "easier" as young representatives work to make this goal achievable! One similarity that many teenagers share is stress about college – whether it is about college acceptances, leaving home, choosing the wrong college, or finances. Today, a few brilliant young delegates introduced a bill to create a better tomorrow by increasing the chances of college admissions for upcoming applicants. Ultimately, they are reducing one aspect of doubt about this tense process from aspiring college students.
The bipartisan bill, authored by Dem. Robert Garcia (D-WI), Rep. Derek Vanodrem R.P(R-WI), Dem. Pramila Jayapal(D-WI), and Dem. Sezanne Bonamici(D-WI), aims to make college admissions fair by banning legacy admissions. Over 30% of legacy students are allowed admission into universities, which means that over 30% of well-deserved spots are allocated to children of parents who were once students at the institution. . Not only this, but an analysis from the Institute for Higher Education Policy found that 53% of selective four-year colleges consider legacy status in their admissions decisions. Is this what the world truly seeks for the future generations?
In today’s world, hardworking students work tirelessly to complete homework for their multiple AP and Honors classes or study for their multiple tests that week, just to have to worry about small college acceptance percentages in addition to the number of legacies applying as well. It is not fair that the spots of these kids who are constantly working in the hope of attending their dream college are being taken from them by the students who are merely accepted due to their parents' status.
The House Education and Workforce Committee is working to add more diversity to our education system. A disproportionate number of white students reap the benefits of legacy admissions and must be removed altogether to create a real change. Not only does this bias stem from race but discriminates against people from a low-income background. The committee proposed banning legacy admissions to make the college process more fair. As Democrat Representative Kayla Goh of the House Education and Workforce Committee stated, "I believe this is a strong bill that covers a wide variety of different angles of legacy admissions,” she went on to state, “We have found solutions…being able to level the playing field”.” Goh’s emphasis on “level[ing] the playing field" highlights the bill's goal of fairness. It also shows the bill's ability to solve multiple problems within admissions and expands the effort to modernize it.
This bill focuses on legacy admissions and affirmative action. The co-authors aim to target this problem by starting with public schools, and once it’s proven effective, this bill will aim to target private schools. The great thing about this bill is that it’s already been effective in numerous states like California, Maryland, and New Jersey. The goal is to expand this throughout the nation. It’s going to start through the Department of Education. An oversight committee will be created, which will oversee all the data that will be given to the public. Every year on September 1st, schools are going to submit data, which includes information about legacy and non-legacy admissions, how many donations were made, and diversity. Not only will they need to submit this data annually, but this information will be released to the public. Democrat co-author Robert Garcia states, “It will be published to the world, so everyone can see, and then they can have their own ideas of whether they trust this university or not.” One more addition to the bill is banning all legacy or familial-based questions from applications, then starting a process called blind admissions. Admission officers will choose students based on their academic qualifications, which will make admissions fair, unbiased, and not based on parent affiliation or demographics.
One may argue that the purpose of this bill takes away some opportunities from the legacy children, and this is true. But, countless opportunities have already been taken away from middle to low-income students whose parents weren’t given the chance to acquire a higher education. Also, by taking away this given spot from these children, it could teach them to work harderto earn a spot at the school. Not to say that all legacy children are not deserving of spots at universities, but some get accepted mainly due to their parents' economic status.
Change is known to be a scary thing, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. This country has been known to not be in favor of transformation, but it always proves beneficial. This bill is the next step to a better future; it is for the underprivileged, the unprivileged, and the people. The goal is not to hold back wealthy white families but to give everyone impartiality in the admissions process. Equality is the foundation upon which America was built, and without this core principle, our democracy would not be able to thrive.
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