Includes private colleges and universities
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/30/california-bans-legacy-admissions-colleges-00181655
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California should mind its own business
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Curious how this is not California’s business. These schools are in… California.
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I wonder if that will hold up legally. If any college cares enough to bring it to court that is.
It doesn’t seem to be that onerous. No financial penalty, but some reporting requirements and a wall-of-shame…?
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Do you tell Dunkin Donuts only to sell Jelly donuts?
How is it the state’s business?
College is a product sold by a business. It has consumers.
The government shouldn’t tell the private sector how to run its business.
Now if they want to say - if you use legacy admissions, we won’t fund whatever we fund of you - that’s different.
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I like the wall of shame 
Honestly, I wonder if any of the private schools will even care enough to pursue any legal avenues. But, I do think it gets sticky when governments start legislating how private schools are run. Can they pass a law that says colleges can’t take family income into consideration? How about a law that says standardized testing is inequitable and isn’t allowed? It’s just a slippery slope.
I wonder if this law could apply, legally, to a school that doesn’t take any federal loan dollars? I would think not.
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I know it’s another thread and we can’t discuss those details here, but the government (SCOTUS) has already told private colleges how they can and cannot admit students.
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The legal basis would be different.
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Yes but that’s specifically because of the Civil Rights Act. Different legal basis.
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The government can also tell Dunkin product they cannot sell, for example, certain products without a license, certain products with banned or regulated substances, …
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bravo cali. equalize the playing field to those w merit rather than mommy and daddy nepo contacts
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I agree the colleges will not take this to court. It is typical California over reach to regulate private colleges that are national in scope. For a counter-example, what if California required Stanford to have at least X% of its students be California residents? At that point, the outcry over interference with private institutions would be quite loud. Y
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How does this even work? If you have a highly qualified applicant who is the child of a donor are you now obligated to reject them? Who can assess within the context of a holistic process - if a candidate only got in because they are a legacy. And isn’t it conceivable this might lower donations and therefore lower money for financial aid ?
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Text of the bill (now law): Today's Law As Amended - AB-1780 Independent institutions of higher education: legacy and donor preference in admissions: prohibition.
Note that donor preferences are also banned.
Bill passed the state assembly 62-0 (17 not voting) and the state senate 26-5 (9 not voting) before getting the governor’s signature.
In polls and surveys, legacy is about as (un)popular as race/ethnicity as a criterion in college admissions: As courts weigh affirmative action, how Americans view college admissions factors | Pew Research Center
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A scion of alumni can still be admitted, but the legacy status cannot be considered. Think of it as analogous to race/ethnicity not being allowed to be considered in admissions.
Of course, that still does not prevent some people from thinking that some student got admitted because of (no longer allowed) legacy preference, similar to how they continue to think that some student got admitted because of (no longer allowed) race/ethnicity preference.
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I wholeheartedly agree that legacy and donor admissions are yucky, obviously most people do. I’m just not sure it can hold up to a legal challenge.
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Often legacy applicants are stronger than the regular admissions pool, at least at my alma mater they say they are. I would guess there’s just a missing box on the applications just like there is for race now.
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I doubt it will be challenged. Only a handful of schools in CA where legacy is truly a factor. Stanford has already been moving away from that on their own, and same with USC after the whole college admissions scandal.
It seems like a bit of a self-congratulatory symbolic move to me. Sounds good on paper, but the uberwealthy and uberconnected will always find a way in.
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I’m curious what that legal challenge sounds like, and who the complainants are if not the schools themselves.
“But my kid HAS to go to my alma mater!!”