At our nation’s elite colleges, the wealthiest applicants routinely purchase—via tax-deductible charitable donations—what’s best understood as an admissions fast pass that includes individualized attention from high-ranking officials, a de facto appeals process should their application be denied on the merits, and the possibility that coaches and administrators will cut corners as needed. In short, colleges are selling dramatically increased admissions odds to children of wealthy donors at taxpayers’ expense. Given the zero-sum nature of admissions, this practice robs lower-income applicants of the opportunity for upward mobility.

The IRS should clarify the rules regarding what constitutes a permissible charitable deduction, including rejecting deductions that represent a quid pro quo, specifying that at any college that fails to erect and enforce a firewall between admissions and fundraising, a familial donation associated with admission is presumed to constitute a business transaction and does not qualify as a charitable deduction. When donors write checks for the purpose of gaining an upper hand in the admissions process, they are no longer making a charitable contribution; they’re making a purchase.