Getting rid of test scores and class rankings will give elite colleges even more latitude to give preference to the offspring of well-heeled alumni.
It is hard not to be cynical about the college admissions process.
In the latest effort to encourage more diversity at American colleges and universities, two Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation to bar colleges that participate in the federal financial aid program from considering “legacy” status in deciding who gets in. As Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, one of the co-sponsors, explained, "Selecting applicants to universities based off of family names, connections, or the size of their bank accounts creates an un-level playing field for students without those built-in advantages, especially impacting minority and first generation students."
But if we have learned any lessons from the past quarter century, it should be that college officials will look for a way to skirt these restrictions, just as they have with laws limiting the use of race as a primary factor in admissions to favor some groups over others.
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James Piereson is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Naomi Schaefer Riley is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum.
This piece originally appeared in Bloomberg Opinion