Legacy Admissions: How It Works and Which Colleges Still Use It
By Muntasir • Published Sep 18, 2026 • Updated Sep 20, 2026 • US College Admissions
Legacy admissions gives an edge to applicants whose parent or close relative attended the same college. Several states banned the practice in 2024, and legacy consideration has fallen from 49% of four year colleges in 2015 to 24% now, though some elite private schools still use it.
🎓 Colorado was the first state to ban legacy admissions at public colleges, in 2021.
California, Virginia, Maryland, and Illinois passed bans in 2024, with California's covering private colleges too.
Connecticut passed a transparency law requiring colleges to report legacy admissions data instead of banning it.
Wesleyan University, Virginia Tech, Carnegie Mellon, and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities dropped legacy preference on their own.
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and other Ivy League schools still list alumni relation as a factor.
What legacy admissions means
Legacy admissions gives extra consideration to an applicant whose parent, and at some colleges a grandparent or sibling, graduated from that same college. It started at some private colleges in the early 20th century and became common at selective schools as one factor within a holistic review, alongside grades, essays, and activities.
How much weight it typically carries
Legacy status functions as a tiebreaker rather than a guarantee at most schools that use it. Admissions offices say it can tip a decision toward an already-qualified applicant when the rest of the file is competitive, but it doesn't override weak grades or a thin application. Colleges rarely publish exact numbers on how legacy status affects individual outcomes, though reporting on Princeton has found legacy applicants there are admitted at a notably higher rate than non-legacy applicants with similar academic records.
States that have banned it
Colorado became the first state to ban legacy admissions at public colleges, in 2021. Since then, several more states passed their own bans:
| State | Year | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 2021 | Public colleges |
| Virginia | 2024 | Public colleges |
| Maryland | 2024 | Colleges receiving state funding |
| Illinois | 2024 | Public colleges |
| California | 2024 | Public and private colleges |
Connecticut took a different route in 2024, passing a law that requires colleges to report legacy admissions data to the state legislature rather than banning the practice outright, according to Inside Higher Ed . California's law, covered by Inside Higher Ed , stands out because it reaches private colleges too, not only public ones. Maryland's version, reported by Inside Higher Ed , applies to any college that receives state funding.
Colleges that dropped it voluntarily
Legacy preference faced new scrutiny after the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling against race-conscious admissions, since critics argued it's inconsistent to end one inherited advantage while keeping another. A wave of colleges dropped legacy consideration on their own following the ruling, including Wesleyan University, Virginia Tech, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Occidental College, and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities .
Which colleges still use it
Legacy consideration overall has fallen sharply, from 49% of four year colleges in 2015 to 24% now, according to Forbes . The schools that kept it tend to be the most selective private colleges. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and other Ivy League schools still list alumni relation as an admissions factor, and Notre Dame reports one of the highest shares of legacy students in its incoming classes of any national university. Check a college's Common Data Set, section C7, to see whether it lists alumni relations as a factor and how much weight it carries relative to grades, essays, and activities.
What it means for your application
If you have a legacy connection, note it where the application asks, but keep building the rest of your file as if it weren't there. If you don't have one, focus your energy on the factors every college weighs heavily everywhere: your grades, course rigor, essays, and activities.