Princeton President Says Capping Athletes Won't Solve Admissions Issues

(Bloomberg) -- Colleges need to redouble efforts to attract students from across the socio-economic spectrum rather than imposing limits on groups like student-athletes and children of alumni to address the issues laid bare by the scandal over families bribing their kids’ way into schools, according to Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber.

The allegations by prosecutors have sparked “a lot of conversations about the advantages that the wealthy can have in the admission processes and the disadvantages and headwinds that you can face if you’re a low income student,” Eisgruber said at an event Thursday evening in Redwood City, California.

“Some people want to move around various levers or processes in the admissions process, and they say ‘What if you take fewer athletes, or what if you took fewer legacy students?’” he said. “The way you get lower- income and middle-income students into a college or university is to focus on getting low income or middle income students into the university.”

Fifty people have been charged in the investigation prosecutors dubbed “Varsity Blues,” including parents, coaches, teachers and college counselors. No schools were accused of wrongdoing and Princeton was not one of the schools cited in the complaints unsealed Tuesday. Eisgruber said that while the vast majority of college applicants play by the rules, “there’s too much stress and attention on where someone ends up going to school” rather than finding the best fit for each student.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Giles in San Francisco at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Heather Smith at hsmith26@bloomberg.net

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