Northeastern University may be setting itself up for a legal battle over a new California law. The university claims its two satellite campuses in the state are shielded from a new law banning private colleges from favoring legacy and donor applicants.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law in September, a measure hailed by advocates as promoting fairness after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted race considerations in college admissions last year. The law, which takes effect in 2025, prohibits preferential treatment for applicants connected to alumni or major donors at private colleges formed as nonprofit entities within California.
Northeastern, however, contends that the law does not apply to its campuses in Oakland and Silicon Valley because the university is legally incorporated in Massachusetts.
“It is our understanding that the new California law does not apply to Northeastern,” university spokesperson Renata Nyul told the Huntington News, which first reported the story. “The university may consider an applicant’s affiliations with Northeastern as part of a holistic review of each applicant for admission.”
California is one of five states to pass laws banning legacy admissions, while similar efforts in Massachusetts have stalled.
Observers say the controversy highlights broader questions about the role of legacy admissions, a practice under increasing scrutiny as states grapple with racial and economic equity in higher education admissions.
“It always surprises me how committed selective colleges are to legacy admissions, especially in the face of critiques, attacks, bills,” said Natasha Warikoo, a sociologist at Tufts University who studies race and admissions. “If that issue becomes bigger and more hairy for the university, I think they’ll have to rethink what they’re doing and why they’re doing it and whether it matters enough to hang on to that policy and try to defend it legally.”
Warikoo, author of the book “Race at the Top,” said Northeastern may win the legal battle but lose the public relations war.
“They have a case because they’re admitting students in Boston,” Warikoo said. “But they are definitely going to lose the publicity case if this gets bigger.”
Warikoo added that Northeastern isn’t “any worse on [legacy admissions] than most elite colleges around here.”
Valerie Johnson, legislative affairs manager with the nonprofit Campaign for College Opportunity, which co-sponsored the California law, acknowledged that Northeastern’s legal argument may be valid but criticized the university’s moral stance.
“Continuing to practice donor admissions says that these colleges want to uplift and prioritize students who come from privilege instead of uplifting students who could benefit even greater from a college degree and education that could potentially lift them out of poverty,” Johnson said.
Northeastern is not alone in this legal gray area. Arizona State University and Carnegie Mellon University also offer degrees in California, and Middlebury College in Vermont operates an international studies institute in Monterey. A spokesperson for Middlebury did not respond to a request for comment on whether it plans to comply with the new law.
