Despite elite colleges’ efforts to diversify, they are still limited in their ability to serve as true engines of economic mobility, said Mark Huelsman, a senior policy analyst at Demos, a left-leaning think tank.
“It does go against what we think higher education should be and it goes against our belief in a meritocracy,” he said. [...]
Flagship public colleges have faced revenue challenges over the past several years as states spend less on public higher education. “That biases you towards a group of people that have more money to pay for college,” Huelsman said, including out-of-state and international students. [...]
“It’s the affirmative action that no one talks about,” Huelsman said of legacy admissions.