RICHMOND, Va. — Public universities would be prohibited from giving preferential treatment in admissions to applicants who are related to alumni or donors, under a bill that emerged from the Virginia Senate on Tuesday.
The measure, which passed 39-0, now heads to the House of Representatives, where an identical bill sponsored by Democratic Rep. Dan Helmer is pending. That bill has also received strong support so far; it emerged from a subcommittee this month on a bipartisan vote of 10-0.
“It’s about honesty. It’s about making higher education available to everyone,” Democratic Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, the Senate bill’s sponsor, said in an interview before the vote.
VanValkenburg, a public school teacher, said last summer’s U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions prompted him to support the bill this year. The court’s action reinforced the national discourse around college admissions and applications, and VanValkenburg said he was surprised to learn the extent to which some colleges were leaning on the practice.
An Associated Press survey of the nation’s most selective colleges in 2022 found that the percentage of older students in the freshman class ranged from 4% to 23%, although many schools declined to provide basic data in response to AP’s request. The AP found that at four schools — Notre Dame, USC, Cornell and Dartmouth — there were more older students than black students.
Both the Virginia House and Senate measures were passed through committee hearings, with minimal discussion and no public opposition. Neither VanValkenburg nor Helmer were aware of any council or other interest group opposing the legislation, they said Tuesday.
“I think this has broad bipartisan support because I think everyone recognizes that this is the right thing to do,” VanValkenburg said.
The change would remove a barrier to college access and help expand access to the middle class, Helmer said.
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his position on the legislation.
The issue received strong support from the Republican Party last summer when Virginia’s Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares expressed support for an old admissions ban following the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Colleges and universities use older applicants to keep the donations flowing and maintain their aura of exclusivity. It often benefits the upper echelon and harms America’s middle and lower classes,” Miyares wrote in an op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
In 2021, Colorado became the first state to ban access to probate, according to news reports.
According to a National Conference of State Legislatures research report provided by Helmer’s office, Colorado remains the only state to have passed legislation banning admissions to postsecondary institutions, although at least five other states have considered related legislation.
Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia has also introduced similar legislation in Congress, along with Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana.