With the signing into law of Senate Bill 640, California high school seniors applying to California state universities (CSU) in 2026 will enjoy a speedier, more efficient, and more affordable pathway to admittance.
The bill, written by Sen. Christopher Cabaldon and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom Oct. 6, creates the CSU Direct Admission Program, which grants any California senior who fulfills the CSU entrance requirements — completed A-G courses and a minimum 2.5 grade point average — acceptance into 16 of the 22 CSU campuses. (CSUs in San Jose, San Diego, Fullerton, Long Beach, San Luis Obispo, and Pomona are not participating, at first, due to campuses at or near maximum enrollment.)
California’s community college students who have already completed a two-year associate degree will also be automatically admitted into a CSU under the bill.
“Direct admission removes the hurdle that stops some students from going to college, and relieves the fear that they won’t get in anywhere,” Newsom said in a May 6 press release.
Serge W. Desir, Jr., Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management at CSU Chico, said in an email to the Wildcat, “By simplifying the path to enrollment, students can start planning earlier and focus on preparing academically and personally for the transition to college life.”
Cecilia Story, assistant principal, describes the program as an “added bonus,” acknowledging that it builds on the counseling department’s efforts to guide students through the complex college application process.
“We hope this new program will not only encourage more students to meet the A–G requirements, but also to be better prepared for college opportunities after high school,” Story said.
The process for admittance has been streamlined. Data from the CaliforniaColleges.edu platform determines a student’s eligibility before Sept. 1 of each year. Then, the California College Guidance Initiative will send out personalized acceptance letters on behalf of the CSU system without any formal application required from the student. From there, students can choose which eligible campus to attend.
“It makes higher education the natural next step, not an intimidating maze of forms and fees,” Cabaldon said.
Those fees — $70 per campus currently — can amount to hundreds of dollars for students applying to multiple CSUs. Next year, however, the path from high school to university becomes less of a financial burden with the elimination of the cost.
CSU Channel Islands admission counselor Kobe Holguin views the CSU Direct Admission Program as especially important for “a lot of underprivileged communities who don’t have the knowledge or access to truly understand what is available to them.”
Channel Islands is a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), with 62.6% of its student body identifying as Hispanic.
“I often meet students who don’t see themselves as college-bound, only to discover that their transcripts tell a very different story,” Holguin told the Wildcat via email. “These students don’t recognize how high achieving they truly are. This program aims to change that.”
CSU applicant and first generation college student Bianca Hernandez (‘26) said, “I love this [program]. The college application system can get confusing, so knowing that I don’t have to go through that whole process by myself helps so much.”
Another benefit of the program, according to Holguin, is its potential to increase enrollment at those CSUs that have experienced a decrease in applicants in recent years.
While CSU enrollment overall has decreased 3.7% in the past decade – due to lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher cost of living, changing demographics across the state, and fewer international students – some campuses, like East Bay, Humboldt, and Sonoma have lost over 30% of their student populations.
Due to the program’s expanding visibility of the state’s 22 campuses, Holguin predicts that his Ventura County campus “will receive increased attention” and a surge in prospective students.
For those BOHS students currently in the midst of applying for colleges, like Ashley Kang (‘26), who is applying to multiple CSUs, the program is a “huge relief.”
“We all stress so much over not getting in anywhere, even when we all worked so hard,” Kang said. “Knowing that there’s at least one acceptance waiting makes college feel less scary.”
