Overview
On September 30, 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law banning admissions preferences for relatives of alumni (colloquially, "legacies,") or major financial donors at private nonprofit universities.[1] Governor Newsom described the law, AB 1780, as "opening the door to higher education wide enough for everyone, fairly."[2] With this law, California becomes the fifth state to enact legislation prohibiting preferential treatment for legacies in college admissions, following similar measures in Illinois (2024), Maryland (2024), Virginia (2024), and Colorado (2021).[3]
Assemblymember Phil Ting authored the law, which marked his second attempt to end legacy preferences in admissions.[4] His first attempt was in 2019 in the wake of the Varsity Blues scandal, where several California universities—including the University of Southern California, University of San Diego, UCLA and Stanford—faced fallout from an admissions conspiracy involving bribery and cheating at many schools.[5] In response, Ting introduced a bill that would have made California education grant money contingent upon colleges no longer "provid[ing] any manner of preferential treatment in admission to applicants on the basis of their relationships to donors or alumni of the institution."[6] That measure was ultimately unsuccessful.
Discussions surrounding legacy admissions returned to the public eye in June 2023, when the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina (UNC) (together, "the SFFA cases").[7] In these cases, the court held that colleges and universities could no longer directly consider race in admissions.[8] Following these decisions, commentators revisited "legacy" admissions, pointing to advantages given to legacy applicants as unfair, unrelated to merit, and disfavoring applicants who are low-income, first-generation, or students of color.
Ting reintroduced his bill after the Supreme Court's decision, explaining, "Given the Supreme Court's decision striking down affirmative action, [and] the institution's inability to actually look at anything around race, it doesn’t make sense that we can’t take into account race or racial disadvantage, but that we [can] take into account someone's wealth as well as their connections to the University."[9]
This law is set to take effect in September 2025.[10] Under its provisions, both public and private colleges and universities in California are prohibited from factoring legacy status in admissions. To ensure compliance, institutions must annually report on their admissions practices to the California Legislature and California Department of Justice, starting in June 2026.[11] Institutions that violate this law will have further reporting requirements and will be publicly listed on the Department of Justice's website as in violation. However, the law does not provide for any financial penalties.[12]
With four states passing laws like AB 1780 in 2024, we may see a turning of the tide in public perception of legacy preferences, which often enjoy bipartisan support. Steptoe will continue to closely monitor the developments surrounding these new laws, as well as the reporting and compliance obligations they entail.
[1] Assem. Bill 1790, 2023-2024 Reg. Sess. (Cal. 2024); California bans legacy and donor preferences in admissions at private, nonprofit universities, Gov. Gavin Newsom (Sept. 30, 2024), https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/09/30/california-bans-legacy-and-donor-preferences-in-admissions-at-private-nonprofit-universities/#:~:text=Sacramento,%20California%20%E2%80%93%20Governor%20Gavin%20Newsom%20today%20announced%20that%20he.
[2] Id.
[3] Michael T. Nietzel, California Becomes Fifth State to Ban Legacy Admissions Preferences, Forbes (Oct. 1, 2024), forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2024/10/01/California-becomes-5th-state-to-ban-legacy-admissions-preferences/.
[4] Ashley A. Smith, California Legislature asked again to ban legacy admissions in all of higher education, EdSource (Feb. 28, 2024), esource.org/2024/California-legislature-asked-again-to-ban-legacy-admissions-in-private-colleges-and-universities/706783.
[5] Id.
[6] Assem. Bill 697, 2019-2020 Reg. Sess. (Cal. 2019).
[7] 143 US. 2141 (2023).
[8] See US Supreme Court Holds Race-Based University Admissions Programs Unconstitutional, Steptoe: Client Alerts (June 30, 2023), https://www.steptoe.com/en/news-publications/us-supreme-court-holds-race-based-university-admissions-programs-unconstitutional.html.
[9] Assemblymember Phil Ting, California State Assembly Committee on Higher Education hearing, Assem. Bill 1780 (April 16, 2024 at 11:09), https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/257804?t=501&f=b31a4025e88e40142e4f0da6a94512c5.
[10] Assem. Bill 1780, §1(c).
[11] Id. §1(d).
[12] Id.
