The Abridged version:
- Most California high school students can be directly admitted to some Cal State universities under a new state law.
- San Jose State, San Diego State, Cal Poly Pomona and a few other campuses with extremely high demand will not be part of the program.
- Leaders say the goal is to encourage more students to continue their education beyond high school.
Editor’s note: This story was reported by journalism students at Sacramento State University, under the direction of associate professor and Abridged contributor Phillip Reese.
Sacramento students are both hopeful and concerned over a new law aimed to smooth the transition from high school to college.
Senate Bill 640 establishes a Direct Admission Program between certain California State University campuses and participating local education agencies. The program provides that all grade 12 students enrolled in a participating school district be designated as CSU applicants, as long as they meet general education requirements and maintain a GPA of at least 2.5.
The CSU schools that will not be participating include San Jose State, San Diego State, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Long Beach. These schools are considered impacted due to high demand. Schools and programs are considered impacted when the number of fully qualified applicants exceeds the number of available spaces.
An easier transition
Sen. Christopher Cabaldon, D-West Sacramento, introduced the bill as a way to make it as easy for students to transition from 12th grade to college as it is for them to transition from 10th to 11th grade.
A letter of direct admission from CSU will be sent to each eligible student. Students will still be required to fill out an application for the campus where they wish to enroll to show intent.
Cabaldon said some forms of direct enrollment and tuition opportunities like the California Promise Program already exist in the state. But he hopes the letter received by students in the mail ignites in them the desire to attend a four-year university, which they may not have known was an option.
“In that moment, you and your family are rethinking the possibilities,” Cabaldon said in a hearing featured on CalMatters’ Digital Democracy platform. “What never seemed like the normal path becomes already done. You don’t have to do anything more.”
Sacramento County matches statewide trends in college-going rates among high school graduates but has lower rates than more affluent counties, like those in the Bay Area.
According to 2024 U.S. Census Bureau data, 43% of Sacramento County residents have an associate’s degree or higher level of education. Meanwhile, Alameda County is at 58%.
According to 2022-23 California Department of Education data, 65.5% of high school graduates in Sacramento County enrolled in college. About 20% of those high school graduates enrolled in a CSU.
“The core of the bill is not just to change the process and the legal entitlements,” Cabaldon said. “It’s mainly to change the way that the psychology of going to college is and to invite more students to go through that path.”
CSU Assistant Vice Chancellor April Grommo said in an interview that the overall goal of SB 640 is to let high school students know that they can go to college and have a brighter future.
“The long term impact, we hope, is that students and families realize that the CSU is an opportunity for them,” Grommo said.
Grommo also highlighted how the pilot program in Riverside County had excellent results.
“We did a pilot with the Riverside County Office of Education and their 23 districts last year, which led to a lot of positive feedback from students and families,” Grommo said. “They didn’t realize that a four-year university and going straight to the CSU was an option.”
Current college students have mixed feelings
Some college students within the Sacramento region said they feel optimism about the new law.
Freshman Samantha Jacobo, a criminal justice major, came to Sacramento State from River Valley High School. She said that she feels the program will be good for high school seniors since it’ll make the admissions process less stressful, encouraging more students to go to college.
Omar Fierro, a Sacramento State senior and a hospitality and tourism major, recalled how he had a low GPA in high school, which limited his college opportunities.
“A lot of people don’t have the opportunities to go to the schools that they want to go to, or the schools that they want to match to,” Fierro said.
He said he feels the new direct admissions program would help make a college education more accessible to more students.
Some students are concerned over the potential drawbacks.
Sarahy Rocha, a Sacramento State freshman and criminal justice major, said she graduated from Natomas High School and that she is concerned that students might not put as much effort into their education if the admissions process becomes more streamlined. With a 2.5 GPA and general education requirements needed to qualify for the program, she said she feels it is unfair to students with higher GPAs.
“I feel like with Gov. (Gavin) Newsom passing that law where it’s like, ‘Oh, you don’t have to try as much to get into a CSU school,’” Rocha said. “That could be good, but at the same time, it doesn’t challenge a lot of students who already work hard just to be here.”
Sacramento State junior Jennifer Taylor, a computer science major, said she thinks it will help a lot of students, especially those who might not have the highest grades, get into college more easily. However, she did express concerns about CSU schools potentially becoming more crowded with more students being encouraged to enroll.
“I think it could potentially flood schools, especially when a lot of people don’t know what they want to do,” Taylor said.
Education leaders applaud expanding access
Justin Young, principal of Winters High School in Yolo County, said he welcomes the passage of the bill because it removes barriers and expands access to higher education. He said Winters Joint Unified School District already took steps to broaden four-year college access in recent years, including introducing a system to provide students with college planning tools, transcript-informed course guidance and streamlined application processes.
“Winters JUSD looks forward to leveraging this new opportunity to help more students discover, pursue and achieve their postsecondary goals,” Young said.
Officials in other parts of the state are also enthusiastic.
Catalina Cifuentes, the Riverside County Office of Education executive director of college and career readiness, said that SB 640 has had a big impact on schools in Riverside.
“We have been able to help students who previously did not even know that they had met all of the requirements to get into college enjoy a smooth transition towards higher education,” Cifuentes said. “It is really exciting to see people realize they have the potential to go to college when it wasn’t even on their radar.”
Craig Petinak, director of public relations and communications services for the Riverside superintendent of schools, said that he is happy that SB 640 will become a statewide program.
“This is something that deserves statewide attention, and so I’m really excited about the success of a program like this,” Petinak said. “There’s a lot of students and families in other areas of California that can benefit from higher education so we definitely need more of this in our state.”
A Sacramento State spokesperson said it is too early for the university to comment on the impact SB 640 will have.
SB 640 was signed into law by Newsom on Oct. 6 and will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026, with eligible students gaining direct admission to participating campuses for the fall of 2027.