BUFFALO, N.Y. — While the school year has come and gone with many colleges and universities holding commencement ceremonies just within the past few weeks, lawmakers in New York already have their eyes set on next year’s admissions season.
With just two weeks left in this year’s legislative session, lawmakers are making a last-minute push to take away admission advantages given to students through the early admission process as well as legacy status. They are doing so through a bill referred to as the Fair College Admissions Act.
The early admission process offers students who are certain of which institution they want to attend a competitive advantage when applying during an early application period. Sometimes, applying early can be binding. But it is a smaller pool, meaning a student’s chances of being accepted are higher. While students can get out of the binding agreement for financial reasons, those that require financial aid may not be able to weigh aid packages the same as if they applied regular decision to multiple schools.
Legacy status is when a student is given an advantage in the admission process because their parent or another relative attended the university where they are applying. According to a report by Education Reform Now New York, it can have quite an impact on a student’s chances, with a legacy student being three times more likely than a non-legacy student with the same academic merit to get accepted.
Lawmakers claim that these advantages take away from what should be a purely merit-based process.
“There was a day where having a high school diploma was enough,” said Jonathan Rivera, Assemblyman for New York’s 149th District and a co-sponsor of the bill. “Those days are long behind us. There was a day where having a four-year degree was enough. And we're sort of seeing that not be enough, either. So we have to do everything we can to remove barriers that can prevent people from pursuing higher education.”
About 450 colleges nationwide offer an early admissions program, and 27% of universities and colleges across the country take legacy status into consideration. In New York, 33 colleges offer an early admission program, and 42% of universities and colleges across the state take legacy status into consideration.
But if this bill is passed, schools in New York that continue to use these factors in the admission process will be forced to pay a financial penalty of 10% of their freshman enrollment multiplied by the cost of tuition and fees.
There are just two weeks left until the legislative session ends June 8, but if it is able to pass, the law would take effect in July, ahead of next year’s admission cycle.
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