Has California Actually Banned Legacy Admissions? Stanford Provides Blueprint on How to Circumvent the Law [by foregoing Cal Grants]

Applying to College College Headlines
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A report by Higher Ed Drive questions if California’s new law is enough to ban legacy admissions as it details how Stanford is circumventing the law by forgoing state student aid.

As reported last week, Stanford announced it will continue to consider legacy status for the fall 2026 admissions cycle. As a consequence, “the highly selective university will forgo California financial aid for students to circumvent a new law aimed at curbing the admissions practices.”

Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law banning private nonprofit colleges that receive state-funded student aid from practicing legacy and donor admissions. Those who violate the rule, effective Sept. 1, must provide extensive demographic data on their newly enrolled students and the admissions rates of those with legacy or donor ties compared to those without.

While lawmakers framed the legislation as a ban, Stanford’s decision to continue using legacy and donor admissions demonstrates the limits of the law’s influence. By turning down state funding, the university can avoid the data reporting penalty and being listed on the state justice department’s website.

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It is not really circumvention, but basically just forgoing Cal Grants, because receiving Cal Grants now comes with a condition of not using legacy and donor preferences in admission.

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Yeah, i think “circumventing law” makes more of this than it is - they’re just saying if the funds come with strings, we don’t want them.

Maybe more interesting is whether other California privates will follow suit? I’m not familiar enough with them to know where legacy has been a boost and, if so, if those colleges have the resources to do the same as Stanford.

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I think that’s the point of this article. That the law does not go far enough to “ban” legacy admissions, which is what the lawmakers have framed it to be: