From New York Times, I'm Michael Obaro. This is a Daily.

Today, a major new study has revealed in staggering ways just how much elite college admissions

in the U.S. systematically favor the rich and the super rich.

My colleague David Leighenhart walks us through the data and explains why the study is

fueling calls to abandon long-standing practices like legacy admissions.

It's Thursday, July 27th.

David, welcome back to the Daily.

Thank you, Michael.

David, after the Supreme Court struck down race-based affirmative action in college admissions

a few weeks ago, said it was unconstitutional. A lot of people's attention quickly turned

to other features of the college admissions process that feel in a way like alternative

forms of affirmative action and preference, giving people a clear set of advantages in

the process. A lot of those people started asking, why aren't we talking about all the ways

that college admissions favor the privileged?

I think that makes sense because college admissions are about to change more than they have

in a long time. It makes sense for colleges and for society as a whole to ask, well, what

features of the current system should remain and what features should change, not just affirmative

action, but really the whole process.

In the midst of that debate comes a study. We get a lot of studies in the world of journalism,

but this study stood out, and it's what we want to talk with you about because it seems to offer

a really authoritative, perhaps even the most authoritative ever look at how systems of

advantage for those with a lot of advantages already play out in the college admissions process.

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