Legacy admissions reviewed, IU's policy remains intact

As major universities nationwide debate the validity of legacy admissions, IU's policy of merit-based admission will remain intact. \nThe University currently operates on a system in which out-of-state applicants must meet slightly higher requirements than their in-state counterparts. Whether an applicant has blood ties to IU alums does not ultimately affect the Office of Admissions' decision. \n"We encourage and welcome students to apply for admission who have family ties, but those students still need to meet the same admissions standards as all other applicants," Associate Director of Admissions Terry Knaus said. "No real preference is given."\nHowever, Knaus said IU's admissions policy allows out-of-state students with a parent who is an IU alum to meet the same standards as an Indiana resident. Currently, out-of-state students must complete a minimum of 32 semesters of college prep courses, including courses deemed "Basic Academic Preparation" by the Office of Admissions. Those students must also complete 12 semesters in a combination of foreign language and math, lab science or social science classes, according to the Office of Admissions Web site. \nIndiana residents must complete the state's Core 40 preparatory program, as well as a minimum of 28 semesters of college prep courses and a minimum of 8 semesters in Basic Academic Preparation. \nIU admissions policies are generally decided by University administrators in collaboration with the Board of Trustees. Knaus said the Office of Admissions could not project whether IU would one day incorporate legacy admissions.\nNationally, the issue of legacy admissions reached a pinnacle of sorts earlier this month when Texas A&M University at College Station decided to no longer extend special preference to applicants with alumni ties. According to a Jan. 4 article in the Houston Chronicle, legacy admissions account for the admission of more than 300 white students annually, approximately equal to the number of blacks admitted each year. \nTexas A&M President Robert M. Gates said in a written statement that after consulting with the Texas A&M Board of Regents, the University would, "effective immediately ... no longer award points for legacy in the admissions review process."\n"Public perceptions of the fairness and equity of our process clearly are important and require prompt action to deal with an obvious inconsistency in an admissions strategy based on individual merit," Gates went on to say. \nIn Washington, Sen. Edward Kennedy D-Mass. filed a bill calling for universities to disclose the ethnic and economic status of incoming students with alumni family ties, arguing that legacy admissions often tilt the balance in favor of affluent white students. \nIU trustee Pat Shoulders said the issue of legacy-based admissions has not come before the Board of Trustees since he became a member in January of 2002. He is unaware of any official IU policy advocating legacy admissions. \n"It seems to me that since we accept any Indiana student who graduates in the top 50 percent of that student's high school class, we do not need to weigh 'legacy,' also," Shoulders said. "Our mission as a state school is to provide, first and foremost, a quality education for the sons and daughters of all Indiana residents whose children have proven in high school that they can succeed at the college level, and not to prefer or give special consideration to those whose high school career calls into question their chances for success -- despite the fact that their parents might have gone to IU."\n-- Contact senior writer Holly Johnson at hljohnso@indiana.edu.