By Romi Mathews
California Gov. Gavin Newsom ended a long-standing tradition of legacy admissions at some of the state’s most prestigious universities on Sept. 30.
The tradition gave children or relatives of alumni and staff employed at certain California universities a higher chance of being accepted into colleges over other applicants, including children and relatives of wealthy donors.
This change comes not long after the national ban on affirmative action in universities across the United States, marking a new era of different admission processes into California’s most esteemed private colleges and the beginning of breaking unethical traditions.
In a statement released by the governor’s office, Newsom said, “In California, everyone should be able to get ahead through merit, skill and hard work. The California dream shouldn’t be accessible to just a lucky few, which is why we’re opening the door to higher education wide enough for everyone, fairly.”
The University of Southern California and Silicon Valley-based Santa Clara University had the highest rate of legacy admissions in California, with Stanford University close behind.
According to a status report from USC, 14% of students admitted during the 2022-23 academic year were legacy admissions, and 30% of transfer students admitted during the fall 2024 cycle were Trojan Transfer Plan students.
TTP is a popular option for students not admitted directly as legacies. A specialized program similar to the Transfer Admission Guarantee program at UC’s, TTP allows participants almost guaranteed entrance through transferable credits.
In an article by Annenberg Media, USC’s student-run news organization, the article states that the TTP program is invite-only. Although this program is not restricted to legacies only, most of the people invited to join the TTP program are legacy students, with a minimal amount of non-legacies being offered program admission.
In the same article by Annenberg Media, the USC Office of Admissions reported that 20-30% of TTP participants made up each year’s transfer class.
This upper hand disadvantages non-legacy applicants by allowing wealth and status to take priority in a system that should be run by fairness, hard work, creativity and merit.
USC has often framed its legacy admissions as a means to support families employed by the university, but this practice has increasingly favored wealth and connections over equitable opportunities.
Despite its original intentions, this system has evolved into one of bias that can be bought into and where privilege outweighs parity.
As universities are expected to change their admission process by the fall of 2025, we hope to see a selection process not defined by bank accounts and familial connections but by ambition and potential.
