Legacy preference or legacy admission is a preference given by an institution or organization to certain applicants on the basis of their familial relationship to alumni of that institution, with college admissions being the field in which legacy preferences are most controversially used. (Students so admitted are referred to as legacies or legacy students.) Regarding college admissions, legacy admissions are practiced almost exclusively at American colleges and universities and are virtually unheard of in post-secondary institutions in other countries around the world. Legacy preferences in elite college and university admissions in the U.S. are widespread: almost three-quarters of research universities and nearly all liberal arts colleges grant legacy preferences in admissions. Schools v