The announcement earlier this month by Texas A&M president Robert Gates was made after the institution came under heavy fire for its 15-year-old policy of giving the children, grandchildren and siblings of alumni four extra points in the 100-point scale it uses to evaluate applicants for undergraduate admission. Last month the president also decided not to use race-conscious admissions criteria, even though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that colleges could consider race. Opponents of the legacy points argued that such admissions were at odds with the president’s stated goal of wanting to admit applicants solely on merit.

Grambling’s accreditation restored
Grambling State University has had its accreditation restored after being on probation for two years because of disarray in its finances. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the national accrediting agency, announced the decision early last month. The move was expected, following the declaration by state officials in October that an audit had found no major problems in the institution’s books. In November, a panel of officials from the accreditation association who visited Grambling said in a report that the university had achieved a “remarkable transformation” in its financial management.