Academia

Lawmakers want to ban legacy admissions at California private colleges, even though few colleges admit students that way. Bill backers say the bill will signal to students that college is for them in the aftermath of the national ban on affirmative action.

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If Gov. Gavin Newsom signs the bill passed Wednesday, the state would join four others that also made legacy preferences in admissions illegal for either public or private institutions. With California’s outsized national role — it’s the most populous state and enrolls the most college students — bill backers say this legislation will serve as a necessary corrective to last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that banned all but military colleges from using race as a factor in admissions.

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In fall 2022, only seven private universities out of about 90 in California admitted students whose family members either donated money to the school or attended the school themselves. A little over 3,300 undergraduates — out of an admissions class of 31,633 — were legacy admissions. Last fall, it was six colleges and about 2,100 students admitted with legacy or donor ties as a factor.

At one school, Northeastern University Oakland, fewer than 10 students were admitted who didn’t meet the school’s admissions criteria last fall. The other campuses — Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, Santa Clara University, Stanford University, University of Southern California — admitted students with legacy or donor ties who all met admissions standards.

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As it stands, the bill’s only punishment for colleges would be to appear on a list compiled by the state’s Department of Justice. However, Ryan said her organization is part of a coalition of groups that includes legal defense funds “that stand ready to take legal action if in fact campuses do not comply with the law.”