As undergraduate admission grows increasingly competitive, the impact of legacy status on admission decisions has raised questions about what role it should play in the admission process.

According to Dean of Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid Richard Shaw, approximately 20 percent of the matriculating freshmen of the Class of 2011 had a parent who received an undergraduate or graduate degree from Stanford.

“We are comfortable with considering intergenerational relationships to the University,” Shaw said. “Legacy applicants come from highly educated families and must be competitive to be successful in the admission process at Stanford.”

Howard Wolf ‘80, vice president for Alumni Affairs and president of the Stanford Alumni Association, agreed that legacy admissions are critical to Stanford’s future as an elite institution.

“I see only advantages to Stanford of our current legacy admission policy,” he said. “The transfer of intergenerational loyalty, and the relationships between the University and its graduates that support this loyalty, are supremely important to Stanford and its future.”

Though both Shaw and Wolf emphasized that legacy status is only one of the many factors considered in the admission process, some students question whether it should be considered at all.

“I think the idea of the system is elitist,” said Avery Halfon ‘10. “Though I haven’t met a single legacy student who does not deserve to be here, I think the policy is unfair because it is not merit-based.” …