I think public institutions not accepting large donations in exchange for favorable admissions makes sense.

I'm not sure that private institutions doing that same is inappropriate though.

here's the thing. the new science facility will cost a TON of money. Endowing a professorship so that a nobel laureate stays on the faculty costs a lot of money. the brand new dorms for incoming freshman...? that also costs a lot of money.

with money, comes power. the children of the rich & powerful will most probably go on to become rich and powerful. that in turn raises the overall branding of the university, and it provides a substantial leg up even for the kids who don't come from money.

case in point: me. I went to one of the top private college in the US. I come from a humble background. my parents didn't have much money.

however, I went to college and suddenly I was surrounded by super smart kids, and also super wealthy kids and kids from "famous" families.

guess what? their dads and moms were happy to advise me. their parents' money paid for my scholarships. I got lucky time & again because of the network I built in my college. and that network didn't consist exclusively of dweeby middle class/lower middle class kids such as myself.

of course I have many of those friends too. we've all done well. but it sure helped that some of the parents were super rich and powerful. it elevated all of us.

I think it's inappropriate for public institutions, but private colleges benefit substantially from big donations.

you don't get into an top tier ivy league school because you have a 4.0 and 1600. tons of kids have those stats. you get in because they somehow determine that you have "what it takes"... and guess what, rich kids and kids of the powerful have "what it takes", namely money and a strong network.