Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB1383, which requires at least three senior campus administrators to
sign off any “admissions by exception.”
This is a process that allows state universities to accept some students who do not meet all eligibility
requirements because they come from a disadvantaged background or have a special athletic or artistic
skill.
Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, who introduced the proposal this spring, said it would
“ensure that the bribery and corruption we saw in the college admissions scandal won’t happen again in
our state.”
The new law will apply to California State University (CSU) campuses and, to the University of California
(UC), if adopted by its independent governing board.
Newsom also signed two other bills that were prompted by the admissions scandal:
AB136 – prevents anyone convicted in the scandal from taking tax deductions for donations to
the bogus charity set up William “Rick” Singer, the college consultant who organized the
fraudulent admissions scheme and laundered bribes through his nonprofit.
AB697 – requires UC, CSU, and any independent university involved in the Cal Grant financial aid
program to annually report to the Legislature on whether they give preferential treatment to
applicants based on their relationships to donors or alumni.
