Postsecondary education: admissions preference: descendants of slavery.

Assembly Member Bryan advances a permissive admissions-preference framework for descendants of slavery across California’s public and private higher education institutions, permitting, rather than requiring, universities to consider an applicant’s descendant status so long as any preference aligns with federal law. The scope encompasses the California State University, the University of California, independent institutions of higher education, and private postsecondary institutions, with implementation permitted only to the extent it does not conflict with federal requirements.

The bill defines a “descendant of slavery” as someone who can establish direct lineage to a person subjected to American chattel slavery before 1900 and who meets at least one of five historical criteria related to emancipation or status, including emancipation through legal or extralegal means, freedom through abolition statutes or amendments, classification as a fugitive from bondage, designation as contraband by military authorities, or military or civic service under ancestry-based restrictions. The text does not specify an evidentiary standard or verification process within the bill itself.

From a governance perspective, the measure does not mandate adoption of any preference, nor does it establish required procedures, reporting, or funding. It anticipates interaction with existing higher-education law and governance structures, and it frames any preference as contingent on compatibility with federal law, while also acknowledging potential constitutional considerations within California’s prohibition on discriminatory or preferential treatment in public education. The bill's fiscal provisions indicate a mandatory fiscal-committee review but no state appropriation is attached to its enactment.

Institutions would face questions about how to implement any adopted policy, including how to verify direct lineage and determine eligibility under the defined criteria, as well as how to balance such a policy with other admissions priorities and anti-discrimination protections. For descendants of slavery and other applicants, the proposal creates a discretionary pathway rather than a rule, leaving implementation details—and any measurable effects on admissions practices and outreach—to future policy decisions by individual institutions. In the broader context, AB 7 introduces a narrowly scoped, voluntary tool that would permit consideration of ancestry-based admissions preferences subject to federal constraints and California constitutional considerations, without mandating action or outlining uniform administrative procedures.