Legacy Admissions 2026 — Which Top Colleges Ended It
Which top colleges still consider legacy status? Common Data Set ratings for 46 schools, five state laws, and what alumni parents should and shouldn't do.
Legacy Admissions in 2026: Which Top Colleges Ended It, and Which Still Consider It
Most elite private colleges still say they consider legacy status. Of 46 top colleges we checked, 31 rate "Alumni/ae relation" as Considered in their newest Common Data Set, 14 as Not Considered, and one wrote in a year-by-year note. At least five states restrict legacy preferences by law.
Everything below was checked on September 24, 2026. College ratings come from item C7 of each college's own Common Data Set (CDS), the standard report colleges post on their institutional-research sites. Laws come from the state legislatures' own websites.
Two cautions before the table. First, the C7 rating is the college's own self-rating on a four-level form (Very Important, Important, Considered, Not Considered). It says whether a factor plays a role, not how large that role is. Second, the newest CDS is usually 2025–26, which describes the class that entered in fall 2025. Laws that took effect later will not show up yet.
State Laws That Restrict Legacy Preferences
| State | Law | Who it covers | What it bars | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | HB21-1173 | State-supported (public) institutions | Considering "legacy preferences and familial relationships to alumni" in admissions | Signed May 25, 2021 |
| Virginia | HB 48 (identical SB 46) | Public institutions | "Preferential treatment" based on legacy status or a family relationship to a donor | Effective July 1, 2024 |
| Maryland | HB 4, Chapter 363 | Any institution in the state "that receives State funds," public or private | Legacy or donor preference as an admission criterion | Approved April 25, 2024; effective July 1, 2024 |
| Illinois | SB 462, Public Act 103-0877 | Public institutions | Legacy status or a family relationship to a donor as an admission factor | Effective August 9, 2024 |
| California | AB 1780, Education Code § 66018.4 | Private nonprofit colleges in California that receive or benefit from state-funded student aid | Legacy or donor preference "as part of the regular or early action admissions process" | Applies from September 1, 2025 |
Three details the summaries often miss:
- California's law names regular and early action only. The statute does not mention Early Decision. We are not saying whether any college treats ED differently; we are only reporting the text. Colleges must report to the Legislature and the state Department of Justice by June 30, 2026 and every year after. The Department posts the names of colleges that violate the ban. The statute sets no fine.
- Colorado and Maryland expressly let colleges ask about alumni relationships to collect data. That is why an alumni question on an application does not by itself mean a preference.
- The University of California ended legacy preferences in 1998, according to the California Governor's release on AB 1780. That explains the UCLA and Berkeley rows below.
Federal status. A bipartisan Senate bill, the Fair College Admissions for Students Act, was introduced in March 2025. It would cut off federal student aid to colleges that give legacy or donor preference. We found no enacted federal ban.
Colleges That Announced an End to Legacy Preference
These come from each institution's own announcement page:
- Amherst, October 20, 2021: the college "announced that it is ending the longstanding practice of a legacy admission preference" (Amherst news release).
- Wesleyan, July 19, 2023: President Roth announced it "was formally ending admission preference for children of alumni" (Wesleyan news, July 20, 2023).
- Occidental, July 2023: the college "will no longer ask applicants about alumni relationships" (President's message).
- Virginia Tech, July 2023: "the university will no longer consider legacy as a factor" (VT News).
- MIT says it has "not offered a legacy preference in at least the last half century" (MIT Admissions blog, updated October 10, 2023).
The same MIT post shows why you should not treat any single CDS as final. It explains that MIT's CDS "erroneously reported" a legacy preference between 2004 and 2008, and that the archived files have since been corrected. A CDS rating is a strong signal, not a sworn statement.
The Table: C7 "Alumni/ae Relation," by College
| College | CDS year | Alumni/ae relation (C7) | Other public status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Yale | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Princeton | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Columbia (College + Engineering) | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Penn | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Brown | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Dartmouth | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Cornell | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Stanford | 2025–26 | Considered | California private; AB 1780 applies from Sept 1, 2025 to colleges it covers | CDS |
| UChicago | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Duke | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Northwestern | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Rice | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Vanderbilt | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Notre Dame | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| WashU | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Emory | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Georgetown | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| UNC–Chapel Hill | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| USC | 2025–26 | Considered | California private; AB 1780 applies from Sept 1, 2025 to colleges it covers | CDS |
| Tufts | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Boston College | 2024–25 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Williams | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Swarthmore | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Wellesley | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Bowdoin | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Middlebury | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Barnard | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Vassar | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Hamilton | 2025–26 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Grinnell | 2024–25 | Considered | — | CDS |
| Claremont McKenna | 2025–26 | Cell reads "yes 2025 no 2026" | California private; see AB 1780 | CDS |
| MIT | 2025–26 | Not Considered | Admissions blog: no legacy preference "in at least the last half century" | CDS |
| Caltech | 2025–26 | Not Considered | California private; see AB 1780 | CDS |
| Johns Hopkins | 2025–26 | Not Considered | — | CDS |
| Carnegie Mellon | 2025–26 | Not Considered | — | CDS |
| University of Michigan | 2025–26 | Not Considered | — | CDS |
| UCLA | 2025–26 | Not Considered | UC ended legacy preferences in 1998 (California Governor) | CDS |
| UC Berkeley | 2025–26 | Not Considered | UC ended legacy preferences in 1998 (California Governor) | CDS |
| Georgia Tech | 2025–26 | Not Considered | — | CDS |
| Boston University | 2025–26 | Not Considered | — | CDS |
| Amherst | 2025–26 | Not Considered | Announced end of legacy preference, Oct 20, 2021 | CDS |
| Pomona | 2023–24 | Not Considered | California private; see AB 1780 | CDS |
| Carleton | 2025–26 | Not Considered | — | CDS |
| Davidson | 2025–26 | Not Considered | — | CDS |
| Harvey Mudd | 2025–26 | Not Considered | California private; see AB 1780 | CDS |
Not in the table. UVA (covered by Virginia's law since July 1, 2024), NYU and Colby: we could not verify a current CDS file. Wesleyan's newest public CDS predates its 2023 announcement, so we list Wesleyan by its announcement instead of an out-of-date rating.
Reading the California rows. Stanford's and USC's 2025–26 files rate alumni relation Considered. Those files describe students who entered in fall 2025, a class admitted before the state ban began on September 1, 2025. Claremont McKenna wrote "yes 2025 no 2026" in the cell instead of checking a box. We report that as written. Next year's files are the first that can show how California's private colleges changed.
What a Legacy Parent Should and Should Not Do
Do:
- Look up each college's current C7 rating before assuming your alumni status matters. At 14 of the 46 colleges above, the college says it is not considered at all.
- Answer family questions accurately. Our guide to the Common App family section covers where the alumni questions sit and what they ask.
- Treat legacy as, at most, one "Considered" factor. That is the lowest positive level on the form. Compare it with how the same college rates course rigor, GPA and essays in the same C7 table. Colleges do not publish how much legacy adds.
- Build the list as if legacy were worth nothing. Then any benefit is a bonus, not a plan. Our guide to how many colleges your child should apply to covers list shape.
- Decide Early Decision on fit and finances. Do not decide it on the legacy connection alone. Our Early Decision acceptance rate table shows what the CDS can and cannot tell you about early rounds.
Don't:
- Don't write, or steer, the essay toward the family connection. Your teen's essay is about your teen. A "why us" answer can mention a real connection your teen has with the place, in their own words, if it is genuinely theirs.
- Don't contact the admissions office on your child's behalf to press the alumni connection. If there is a question, your teen can ask it.
- Don't assume a campus visit adds legacy "credit." Demonstrated interest is a separate C7 item. Most of the top colleges rate it Not Considered, as our demonstrated interest table shows.
- Don't count on donations. Virginia, Maryland, Illinois and California name donor preference explicitly. Outside those laws, colleges publish nothing that would let you plan around it.
The Part Your Teen Controls
A family history at a college is not a story the college needs told back to it. Your teen's own background, and what they did with it, is. If your teen is writing about identity or family, the undergraduate diversity and perspective essay after SFFA and writing about hardship without a sob-story script are useful starting points. Your teen can then run their own draft through GradPilot's free college essay review against the Common App background and identity rubric. Read the feedback together. The review gives qualitative feedback on the writing; it does not predict admission, and your teen remains the author. For how readers weigh essays, see how holistic readers read a college essay.
FAQ
Do Ivy League schools still consider legacy?
All eight Ivies rate "Alumni/ae relation" as Considered in their 2025–26 Common Data Sets. That is the colleges' own self-rating. It is not a measure of how much the connection helps any applicant.
Which top colleges don't consider legacy at all?
In our table: MIT, Caltech, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, Michigan, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech, Boston University, Amherst, Pomona (2023–24 file), Carleton, Davidson and Harvey Mudd rate it Not Considered. Wesleyan, Occidental and Virginia Tech announced an end to legacy preference.
Does California's law apply to Stanford and USC?
AB 1780 covers private nonprofit colleges in California that receive or benefit from state-funded student aid, from September 1, 2025. It names "the regular or early action admissions process." Their 2025–26 CDS files cover a class admitted before that date. We make no claim about how any college has applied the law.
Is a legacy the same as a sibling or employee relationship?
Not on the CDS. C7 asks only about "Alumni/ae relation." Colleges ask about siblings or staff relationships on their own member questions, and the CDS does not rate those.
Is there a federal ban on legacy admissions?
We found none enacted. A Senate bill introduced in March 2025 would cut off federal student aid to colleges that use legacy or donor preferences.
Sources
All retrieved September 24, 2026.
- Colorado General Assembly: HB21-1173
- Virginia LIS: HB 48 (2024) summary
- Maryland General Assembly: HB 4 (2024), Chapter 363
- Illinois General Assembly: Public Act 103-0877
- California Education Code § 66018.4 (AB 1780)
- Office of the California Governor: AB 1780 signing release, Sept. 30, 2024
- Sen. Merkley: Fair College Admissions for Students Act introduction
- Amherst College news release, Oct. 20, 2021
- Wesleyan University news, July 20, 2023
- Occidental College: Formally Ending Legacy Admission
- Virginia Tech News, July 2023
- MIT Admissions: "Just to be clear: we don't do legacy"
- Harvard Common Data Set 2025–26
- Yale Common Data Set 2025–26
- Princeton Common Data Set 2025–26
- Columbia (College + Engineering) Common Data Set 2025–26
- Penn Common Data Set 2025–26
- Brown Common Data Set 2025–26
- Dartmouth Common Data Set 2025–26
- Cornell Common Data Set 2025–26
- Stanford Common Data Set 2025–26
- UChicago Common Data Set 2025–26
- Duke Common Data Set 2025–26
- Northwestern Common Data Set 2025–26
- Rice Common Data Set 2025–26
- Vanderbilt Common Data Set 2025–26
- Notre Dame Common Data Set 2025–26
- WashU Common Data Set 2025–26
- Emory Common Data Set 2025–26
- Georgetown Common Data Set 2025–26
- UNC–Chapel Hill Common Data Set 2025–26
- USC Common Data Set 2025–26
- Tufts Common Data Set 2025–26
- Boston College Common Data Set 2024–25
- Williams Common Data Set 2025–26
- Swarthmore Common Data Set 2025–26
- Wellesley Common Data Set 2025–26
- Bowdoin Common Data Set 2025–26
- Middlebury Common Data Set 2025–26
- Barnard Common Data Set 2025–26
- Vassar Common Data Set 2025–26
- Hamilton Common Data Set 2025–26
- Grinnell Common Data Set 2024–25
- Claremont McKenna Common Data Set 2025–26
- MIT Common Data Set 2025–26
- Caltech Common Data Set 2025–26
- Johns Hopkins Common Data Set 2025–26
- Carnegie Mellon Common Data Set 2025–26
- University of Michigan Common Data Set 2025–26
- UCLA Common Data Set 2025–26
- UC Berkeley Common Data Set 2025–26
- Georgia Tech Common Data Set 2025–26
- Boston University Common Data Set 2025–26
- Amherst Common Data Set 2025–26
- Pomona Common Data Set 2023–24
- Carleton Common Data Set 2025–26
- Davidson Common Data Set 2025–26
- Harvey Mudd Common Data Set 2025–26
Let Your Teen Check Their Own Draft
Your student runs their essay against the matching Common App rubric for free. Read the feedback together; the writing stays theirs.