Officials from several peer institutions of higher education said they do not use any tracking mechanism for prospective students on the basis of possible financial contributions.
"We certainly do not do that, we have no plans to, and we have no reason to do so," said Marlyn McGrath-Lewis, director of admissions at Harvard University.
But University of Virginia spokeswoman Louise Dudley said a centralized system designed to handle external recommendations is not unusual at certain institutions.
"This is a common kind of practice at a selective college or university," Dudley said.
Many selective institutions of higher education, however, denied the use of this practice.
Development officials at Harvard only solicit donations from students or students' parents after the students have graduated, McGrath-Lewis said.
The College of William & Mary does not make lists of prospective students either, but does consider whether the student can bring financial contributions to the College, said David Trott, William & Mary associate dean of admission.
"We are looking obviously for what a student can bring to campus," Trott said. But "the downside is if you accept somebody because of their potential to give, that doesn't mean the student will be successful - in the long run it could do more harm than good to the College."
But the University of Virginia sometimes, though rarely, considers a student's family's potential to give money to the University, Dean of Admissions John A. Blackburn said.
The University in some instances can change an admissions decision if "it appears [a student's family's gift] is going to be a significant gift to the University," and if the student is competitive with the applicant pool in the University's other admissions criteria, Blackburn said.
Shelley Blumenthal, associate director of undergraduate admissions at Virginia Tech, said the admissions office at Tech does not receive any lists of students being tracked by either the President's Office or a development office.
But this year Virginia Tech has adopted a policy where anyone on campus can contact Tech's associate vice president for development with recommendations, Blumenthal said.
"This gives a central way for the director of admissions to be aware of the interest that someone on campus may have in the student's candidacy," he said. But "the money wouldn't be the factor. The interest of the development officer in the particular student may have an impact in an admissions decision."
When legislators or other government officials, for example, send recommendations to the University of Virginia to admit a student, they are usually forwarded to Gordon Burris, special assistant to University President John T. Casteen III, Casteen said.
University of Michigan spokeswoman Julie Peterson said Michigan does not have such a system.
"We do not have any system for identifying potential donors among our prospective students - we don't make up a list," Peterson said.
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