California Colleges Drop Legacy Admissions: Here's What It Means

California has enacted a ban on legacy admissions, prohibiting public and private universities from considering applicants' connections to alumni or donors in admissions decisions. The measure was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday, September 1, 2025. This represents the sixth state-level prohibition on legacy admissions in the U.S. and the second to apply to private colleges, affecting famous universities like Stanford and the University of Southern California (USC). Merit-based opportunities should be provided to everyone, according to Newsom, who also stated that the "California Dream" should not be restricted to a wealthy few. The new law intends to guarantee that everyone in California, regardless of familial ties, has access to higher education. In addition to being publicly identified on the state Department of Justice's website, those who violate the prohibition will not be penalized financially.The law also strengthens the current mandates for data reporting that were put into place in 2022. Under the new guidelines, private institutions must publish more extensive demographic information about their accepted students, including race, wealth, and sports involvement. This openness aims to illuminate the ways in which donor and legacy admissions impact the diversity of entering classes as a whole. The Varsity Blues incident of 2019 revealed how affluent families rigged college admissions via bribery and fraud, which is in part why the ban was implemented. The bill's sponsor, Assemblymember Phil Ting, stated that the intention is to reduce the impact of legacy and donor links in order to improve the equity of admissions procedures. With 14.4% of its entering class having ties to donors and legacy, USC had the highest percentage of new students with these connections in 2022. Stanford came next with 13.8%, while under same circumstances, Santa Clara University accepted 13.1% of applicants. USC has declared it will abide by the law, despite the fact that none of these colleges have openly opposed it. The institution reaffirmed its commitment to upholding changing regulatory requirements and cultivating a diverse student body in a recent statement.The measure was initially opposed by the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU), which is a group that represents a large number of private colleges and universities in the state. It voiced objections to the increased reporting requirements and opposed the planned financial penalties, which were subsequently dropped. AICCU said that certain information sought, such family income, is exempt from disclosure under IRS privacy regulations. Additionally, it argued that while sports recruitment and legacy admissions are related to the Varsity Blues incident, they are not the same thing. California's public colleges are exempt from the new law. After a statewide restriction on admissions based on race, the University of California system stopped considering legacy or donor relationships in 1998. California State University does not take these factors into account when making admissions decisions.