09.25.06
“Developmental Admits”
From Duke News: Brodhead Discusses … Developmental Admits
At the council meeting, Brodhead was also asked about a new book by a Wall Street Journal reporter detailing elite universities’ use of developmental admits – the practice of admitting students of wealthy families who could potentially donate money. The book includes information on the practice at Duke dating back to when Terry Sanford was president.
Brodhead defended the early use of developmental admits in helping Duke build the resources to achieve the “outrageous ambitions” that Sanford set. Its current use is more restricted, but has not been eliminated.
“It would be naïve to say that any university should pay no attention to a family’s ability to help the university,” Brodhead said. “The question is how much, what is the weight we will give this? We don’t want this to be a dominant factor.”
A family’s ability to donate to Duke is a “plus factor” used in admissions; others include alumni legacies, faculty children, minorities, internationals, athletes and residents of North and South Carolina.