An Act banning legacy preferences in higher education

SD 38 bans legacy preferences in Massachusetts public higher education admissions. It prohibits public universities (including the University of Massachusetts and state universities) and degree-granting institutions in the Commonwealth from considering an applicant's familial relationship to a graduate when making admission decisions. The bill also requires institutions to remove any mention of relatives' college attendance from admission documents. These changes take effect for the 2026-2027 school year. The policy directly affects applicants to these institutions by eliminating a factor that previously gave preference to students with family ties to alumni.