Newsom Signs Bill Banning Legacy Admissions at Private California Colleges, Universities
Credit: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg / Getty Images- California’s governor signed a bill eliminating legacy admissions at private colleges and universities.
- The legislation would apply to institutions including Stanford University and the University of Southern California.
- California’s public colleges are already prohibited from giving preferential treatment to legacy applicants.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Sept. 30 banning legacy admissions at private colleges and universities, becoming only the second state in the country to ban preferential admissions at private institutions.
The law will take effect Sept. 1, 2025, and will affect institutions including Stanford University and the University of Southern California (USC). California joins Maryland as the only other state banning legacy admissions at private and public institutions.
Six private higher education institutions in California have reported giving preferential treatment to candidates related to graduates and donors: USC, Stanford, Santa Clara University, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, and Northeastern University Oakland.
For the fall 2023 semester, USC admitted 1,791 students with ties to donors or alumni, the most of any private institution in the state. Stanford University had the second-highest number, with 295.
“In California, everyone should be able to get ahead through merit, skill, and hard work,” Newsom said in a statement. “The California Dream shouldn’t be accessible to just a lucky few, which is why we’re opening the door to higher education wide enough for everyone, fairly.”
Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, introduced the legislation in response to a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that banned the consideration of an applicant’s race in college admissions.
“If we value diversity in higher education, we must level the playing field,” Ting said in a press release. “That means making the college application process more fair and equitable. Hard work, good grades, and a well-rounded background should earn you a spot in the incoming class — not the size of the check your family can write or who you’re related to.”
Ting previously introduced a bill targeting legacy admissions in 2019 after the “Operation Varsity Blues” scandal that involved wealthy families paying to have their children recruited as fake athletes. Stanford University and USC were among the schools involved in the scheme.
The bill failed and was ultimately amended to only require private institutions to annually report their preferential treatment numbers to the state.
The new law will require all private institutions of higher education to submit an annual report to demonstrate compliance. If an institution is suspected of violating the ban, California’s attorney general may conduct an investigation. If found in violation, the school’s name will be publicly posted on the state’s Department of Justice website.
USC told its student-run newspaper, the Daily Trojan, that all admitted students meet its high standards through holistic review.
“We are fortunate that USC remains a top destination for so many accomplished students across the country and world, and we are always looking to evolve our admissions processes and recruitment efforts to bring as many of these students to USC as we can,” USC said. “We will do so in compliance with the law.”
Stanford media relations told the university’s student-run newspaper, The Stanford Daily, that the university will review its admissions policies ahead of the September 2025 effective date.
California is one of only five states that have banned legacy admissions at public colleges and universities, including Illinois, Colorado, and Virginia.