FILE – Students walk through Harvard Yard, April 27, 2022, on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. On Monday, July 24, 2023, the U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into Harvard University’s policies on legacy admissions, which give an edge to applicants with family ties to alumni. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

BOSTON (AP) — The U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into Harvard University’s policies on legacy admissions, which give an edge to applicants with family ties to alumni. Top colleges’ preferential treatment of children of alumni has been facing new scrutiny since the Supreme Court last month struck down the use of affirmative action as a tool to diversify college campuses. The department notified Lawyers for Civil Rights, a nonprofit based in Boston, on Monday that it was investigating the group’s claim that the university “discriminates on the basis of race by using donor and legacy preferences in its undergraduate admissions process.”