Meanwhile, Senate Dems are considering proposing changes in the higher-education reauthorization bill that would threaten colleges that use legacy preferences with loss of federal funds. The proposal penalizes colleges with a legacy preference and Early Decision (a controversial program in which applicants apply early, with the promise that they’ll attend if accepted), as well as a minority graduation rate that is 10 percent or more below its overall rate. The proposal is to link the three–even though there’s no cause and effect among them. While the bill’s still in flux, 12 major college associations wrote to Sen. Ted Kennedy, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Education Committee (himself a Harvard legacy), begging him to drop it. Their beef: the Feds shouldn’t tell colleges whom to admit. Schools also worry that killing the legacy preference will hurt fund-raising. “I’ve already heard from most of the private schools in my state,” says one Hill staffer. He’ll likely soon hear from the rest.
