California bans universities from admitting students based on ‘legacy’

The rule, in effect from September 2025, will block colleges from giving preference to pupils close to alumni and donors

California became the fifth state in the US to ban universities from admitting students based on their family connections, and the second state, after Maryland, to extend the ban to private, non-profit universities.

Hard work, good grades and a well-rounded background should earn you a spot in the incoming class - not the size of the check your family can write or who you're related to," Phil Ting, the Democratic state assembly member, who authored the legislation, said in a statement.