Fair Competition for Admission: Maryland’s Ban on Legacy and Donor Preference for Higher Education Admissions Standards

The state of Maryland recently passed Senate Bill 543 which prohibits the consideration of legacy or donor preference as a factor for an institution’s admission standards.¹ Pursuant to Maryland Code § 26-901(a)(1-3) a “Donor preference” is for an applicant that is related to a person that financially supports the institution, and a “Legacy preference” is for an applicant that is related to an alum of the institution.² The statute explicitly applies this prohibition to all higher education institutions within Maryland that receive state funding.³ However, institutions may inquire into an applicant’s relationship to an alum or donor “for the purpose of collecting data.”⁴ This statute took effect on July 1, 2024.⁵

Delegate Jazz Lewis sponsored this legislation in the General Assembly’s 2024 session as a preventative solution for unfair admissions practices.⁶ Furthermore, this legislation arises from the United States Supreme Court’s recent ruling on Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College and SFFA v. University of North Carolina, where the Court found the consideration of race in the admissions process for the purpose of diversity was unconstitutional.⁷ In light of these recent Supreme Court opinions, these bans present an alternate initiative to diversify the student demographic within higher education institutions, for legacy admissions are “unmeritocratic” and “disproportionately [benefit] white students” and the wealthy.⁸ Research findings show that legacy applicants are almost “[four] times as likely” to be accepted to an institution over non-legacy applicants “with similar test scores and grades.”⁹ Institutions that utilize legacy or donor preference as an admission standard deem it as an economic advantage because “legacy candidates tend to ‘have wealthier parents who are materially positioned to be more generous donors than non-legacy parents.’”¹⁰

Maryland is the third state, following behind Colorado and Virginia, to enact a ban on legacy and donor preference in higher education institutions.¹¹ Prior to the enactment of this statute, at least twelve Maryland institutions considered legacy status.¹² However, Maryland’s enforcement of this legislation is a strong push from tradition and a step forward toward expanding the presence of first-generation, low-income, and diverse racial and ethnic students on college campuses.

Anaisha Ramzey is a third-year student at the University of Baltimore School of Law, and an Associate Editor for Law Forum. Anaisha is from Petersburg, Virginia. She is a proud alumna of Old Dominion University where she graduated with honors and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with a minor in Public Service. While attending UB, Anaisha serves as the President of the Black Law Students Association, member of the Honor Board, a law scholar for Civil Procedure II, and a Rule 19-220 student attorney with the Saul Ewing Civil Advocacy Clinic. Upon graduation in May of 2025, Anaisha will sit for the Maryland Bar and serve as a Judicial Law Clerk for the Honorable Melanie M. Shaw in the Appellate Court of Maryland.

¹ See generally, S.B. 543, 2024 Leg., 446th Sess. (Md. 2024); see also MD. CODE ANN., EDUC. § 26-901(b) (West 2024).

² EDUC. § 26-901(a)(1-3).

³ EDUC. § 26-901(b).

⁴ EDUC. § 26-901(c)(2).

5 See generally EDUC. § 26-901.

⁶ Hallie Miller & Olivia Sanchez, Maryland Becomes the Third State to Completely Ban Legacy Preference in Admissions, THE HECHINGER REPORT (May 1, 2024), https://hechingerreport.org/maryland-to-become-the-third-state-to-completely-ban-legacy-preference-in-admissions/.

⁷ See Kiersten Hacker, 7 Maryland education laws taking effect July 1, THE BALT. SUN, (June 30, 2024, 5:09 PM), https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/06/28/7-maryland-education-laws-taking-effect-july-1/ (“After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled affirmative action unconstitutional, Maryland passed a law with bipartisan support to ban legacy and donor preference in admission for institutions that receive state funding.”); see also Liam Knox, Maryland House Passes Legacy Ban, INSIDE HIGHER ED (Feb. 19, 2024), https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2024/02/19/maryland-house-passes-bill-banning-legacy-admissions (“Legacy consideration in elite college admissions has come under heightened public scrutiny since last summer’s Supreme Court ruling striking down race-based affirmative action.”); see generally, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harv. Coll., 600 U.S. 181 (2023).

⁸ Emma Serrano, Unpacking Legacy: A Moral Inquiry into College Admissions, U.N.C. ETHICS & POL’Y (May 17, 2024), https://ethicspolicy.unc.edu/news/2024/05/17/unpacking-legacy-a-moral-inquiry-into-college-admissions/; Kierstan Hacker, 7 Maryland Education Laws Taking Effect July 1, THE BALT. SUN, (June 30, 2024, 5:09 PM), https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/06/28/7-maryland-education-laws-taking-effect-july-1/.

⁹ Jeannie Suk Gersen, The End of Legacy Admissions Could Transform College Access, TheNewYorker (Aug. 8, 2023), https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-end-of-legacy-admissions-could-transform-college-access# (“A recent study by Harvard economists, using data from several élite colleges, found that legacies were nearly four times more likely to be admitted than other applicants with the same test scores.”); see also Jin Chow, The Waning Influence Of Legacy College Admissions And How To Stand Out, FORBES (Jan. 18, 2024, 7:38 PM), https://www.forbes.com/sites/jinchow/2024/01/18/the-waning-influence-of-legacy-college-admissions-and-how-to-stand-out/.

¹⁰ Jin Chow, The Waning Influence Of Legacy College Admissions And How To Stand Out, FORBES (Jan. 18, 2024, 7:38 PM), https://www.forbes.com/sites/jinchow/2024/01/18/the-waning-influence-of-legacy-college-admissions-and-how-to-stand-out/.

¹¹ See Janet Lee, Virginia has Banned Legacy Admissions at Its Public Colleges, NPR (Mar. 11, 2024, 3:55 PM), https://www.npr.org/2024/03/11/1237630465/virginia-legacy-admissions-college; see also Jason

Gonzales, Colorado Banned Legacy Admissions at Its Public Colleges. Two Years Later, the Impact is Unclear, CHALKBEAT CO., (Aug. 25, 2023, 12:00 PM),

https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2023/8/25/23843735/legacy-admissions-ban-campus-diversity-affirmative-action-college-enrollment/.

¹² Miller & Sanchez supra note 6.