This week in college admissions, the Senate considers banning legacy admissions, Davidson College eliminates its application fee, Vanderbilt streamlines its merit scholarship program and announces plans to return to testing, and the state of Massachusetts makes a major investment in turning its public colleges green.
A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a revised version of the Merit Act, which aims to ban legacy admissions. The bill was first introduced in the Senate in 2023 but failed to pass. This revised version emphasizes transparent methods for evaluating student interest.
With an eye toward expanding access, Davidson College will no longer require applicants to pay a $50 application fee. Davidson was the first liberal arts college to eliminate loan programs tied to aid packages, and, more recently, the college announced that students of families earning up to $175,000 could attend tuition-free.
Vanderbilt University has canceled one of its merit scholarship programs. After the 2026-2027 admissions cycle, the university will no longer offer the Chancellor’s Scholarship, instead consolidating it with the Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship. The university says this change is intended to make it easier for prospective students to navigate and apply for merit scholarships. The overall number of merit scholarships awarded, and the funding for said scholarships, will remain the same.
Speaking of Vanderbilt…the university will start requiring SAT or ACT test scores for students applying for fall 2029 admission. Until then, students can continue to choose whether to submit their SAT or ACT scores. This news comes as other universities, including the UC system, announce plans to reevaluate their testing policies.
The state of Massachusetts made a $23M investment in green energy projects across nine of its public colleges. Students attending UMass Amherst, UMass Boston, and others can expect to see these schools implement geothermal energy projects and replace gas systems with electric systems.
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