The law will take effect in September 2025 and will impact various institutions.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has approved AB 1780, a new law that prohibits private nonprofit colleges in California from considering legacy and donor preferences in their admissions processes. This decision brings private institutions in line with the University of California system, which eliminated legacy preferences back in 1998. The bill, introduced by Assemblymember Phil Ting, aims to ensure that admissions are based on merit rather than wealth or personal connections, thereby reducing biases in college admissions.
This new law represents a significant victory for critics of legacy admissions, a practice that has faced heavy criticism at prestigious private institutions like Stanford University and the University of Southern California. Scheduled to come into effect in September 2025, the law will not impact the upcoming admissions cycle, allowing schools time to adjust their processes accordingly. The goal is to create a more equitable admissions landscape by ensuring evaluations are merit-based.
Governor Newsom stressed that access to higher education should be based on merit, skill, and hard work, not familial connections or donations.
The signing of AB 1780 follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limits the use of race in admissions, prompting advocates to call for more equitable admissions criteria. Private colleges in California will now be required to submit annual reports confirming compliance with the new regulations.
California becomes the fifth state to pass legislation prohibiting legacy admissions or the granting of advantages to relatives, alumni, or institutional donors in admissions. Maryland was the first state to pass a public and private legacy ban earlier this year, although Johns Hopkins had already discontinued this practice in 2020. In August of this year, Illinois became the fourth state to enact a legacy admission prohibition, following Colorado in 2021 and Virginia earlier this year.
The law will go into effect in September 2025 and will impact private institutions that have traditionally taken family connections into account in admissions, such as the University of Southern California, Stanford University, Claremont McKenna College, and Santa Clara University.
This legislation is part of Governor Newsom’s previous efforts to focus on higher education access, including initiatives like:
– Two Years of Free Community College: Providing up to two years of tuition-free community college for first-time, full-time students and eligible returning students.
– Debt-Free College for Foster Students: Expanding the Middle-Class Scholarship to include the Fostering Futures program, covering students with experience in foster care for tuition, fees, and related expenses at CSU and UC.
– Financial Aid Application Requirement: Requiring high schools to certify that their seniors complete the FAFSA/CADAA to ensure that federal and state financial aid funds are not missed by needy students.
– College Affordability: Significant investments in college affordability, including funding for the development of affordable student housing at UC, CSU, and community colleges, Open Educational Resources at California Community Colleges, strengthening the Middle-Class Scholarship program, and efforts to offer zero-cost textbook courses and make the College Corps program permanent.
– Higher Education Opportunity for People with Intellectual Disabilities: Signing AB 447 to encourage CSU and UC to establish and maintain inclusive college programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to promote inclusion, employment, and independent living.
– NCAA Name, Image, & Likeness: Signing legislation that allows student-athletes in California to financially benefit from their name, image, and likeness. This was the first law of its kind in the nation and led the NCAA to change its rules in July 2021.