Although University programs that benefit only children of LSU alumni exist, officials said these “legacy applicants” are not given preferential consideration over other admissions applicants.
Jody Hammett, assistant director of Admissions, said the University does not give children of alumni, or legacy applicants, preference over other applicants.
The University’s application for undergraduate admissions asks applicants to state whether their parents attended LSU, and if so, did they graduate.
Hammett said this information is used to determine whether applicants are eligible for fee exemptions that exist for children of LSU alumni.
The Fee Exemption for Nonresident Sons and Daughters of LSU Graduates waives half of the nonresident application fee, said Andy Benoit, associate director of Admissions.
“However, it does not give them preference in acceptance to the University,” he said.
To be eligible for the exemption, applicants must apply as nonresident undergraduate students with no previous degrees. Also, they must qualify for admission to the University and be the child of an LSU graduate, according to the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid.
Tommy Weinnig, a political science senior and child of LSU graduates, said he does not think the scholarship is unfair since scholarships exist for different categories of students.
“I think it’s because in every regard there are scholarships for all divisions,” he said. “It’s just another division.”
Weinnig also said the scholarship is a good way to get alumni to send their kids to LSU.
Stephanie Foster, a psychology sophomore whose parents did not attend college, is not eligible for the scholarship, but does not think the scholarship is unfair.
“It doesn’t bother me,” she said.
Another exemption exists for children of deceased faculty members called the Fee Exemption for Sons and Daughters of Deceased Faculty Members.
This exemption waives all University-assessed undergraduate fees for children of deceased faculty members with five or more years of full-time service in the LSU System and who were tenured at the time of their death.
National attention has turned to preference in university admissions standards since President George W. Bush publicly denounced the University of Michigan’s admissions process for factoring race into its admissions criteria.
Critics of affirmative action condemn such practices as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on this matter April 1.
Some LSU students rank among the critics.
“If you’re going to give preference to someone because their parents went there, that has no regard on what kind of student they’re going to be,” Foster said.
“Legacy applicants” is a term coined by the Washington Post to describe students who apply to universities their parents graduated from.
Georgia and California state governments forced their state universities to abolish legacy preferences in order to end affirmative action admissions, according to a Washington Post article.