Governor Signs Bill Banning Donor and Legacy Preferences in College Admissions in California

10.02.2024

A bill that we have been following has become law.  On September 30, 2024, California Governor Gavin Newson signed AB 1780 into law, enacting Education Code §66018.4. This prohibits California private colleges and universities from giving admissions preference to applicants who are related to donors or alumni. 

Even if they don’t use such preferences, all private California colleges and universities should become familiar with this new law and make any necessary revisions to their admissions procedures and processes, including review of their application.  Consulting with counsel now may avoid later problems.  With the understanding that this is not legal advice, this update provides an overview.    

The new law continues the existing requirement that private California colleges and universities must report each year whether they have given preferences in admissions, and thus complied or not complied with the law.  Noncompliant institutions must report certain information for all admitted students, including legacy/donor status, race, geography, income bracket, and athletic status, and the admissions rates for students given preference compared to those who were not.  This data will be made public without compromising applicant anonymity, and the names of noncompliant institutions will be posted by the California Dept. of Justice on its website. 

Before submitting the required report, institutions should consider the specific statutory language.  Education Code §66018.4(c) states that institutions shall not provide a legacy or donor preference to an applicant as part of the regular or early admissions process.  “Preference” is defined as considering the applicant’s relation to a donor or alumni as a factor, including asking the applicant about their family’s donor status or where relatives attended college, and then including that information among the documents used to consider admission.

The new law does not ban admitting relatives of donors or alumni.  It bans giving them preference, and admitting a donor/alumni relative does not make the institution noncompliant. 

The thrust of the law is to prevent qualified applicants from being passed over in favor of donor/legacy applicants.  Donor/alumni relatives can be admitted if no applicant was rejected because their place was taken.    

Significantly, the new statute expressly states that institutions may collect data on applicants’ relation to donors or alumni for purposes other than admissions decisions.

The new statute is considerably different than originally proposed.  Originally, the bill penalized non-compliant institutions by recapturing the previous year’s Cal Grant money, which could be substantial. 

Though there is no penalty, non-compliance will subject the institution to a reporting burden, additional scrutiny, and perhaps unwanted publicity.  It also could be used to support future legislation enacting a penalty. 

This may not be the end of this issue.  Proponents have used information gathered under the existing law to support further action, and a bill could be introduced in the future to impose penalties.  The legislator who originated this bill and its predecessor has been termed out, so future action is uncertain.  Analogous federal legislation, the Merit Act, remains pending. 

Please let us know if you have any questions. 

This AALRR publication is intended for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in reaching a conclusion in a particular area of law. Applicability of the legal principles discussed may differ substantially in individual situations. Receipt of this or any other AALRR publication does not create an attorney-client relationship. The Firm is not responsible for inadvertent errors that may occur in the publishing process.

© 2024 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo