Newsom signs bill for automatic CSU admission, CSULB and 5 campuses excluded

While six universities including Long Beach state won’t be able to be apart of the automatic admission program, high school students are still welcomed to apply the traditional way. Dante Estrada | Long Beach Current

On Oct. 6, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 640, which expands the California State University Direct Admission Program to give automatic acceptance to high school students who complete the A–G requirements and maintain at least a 2.5 GPA.

The law will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026, and the program is scheduled to launch in fall 2026 for students applying for fall 2027.

Currently, six campuses are too full to participate, including:

Long Beach State
Cal State Fullerton
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Cal Poly Pomona
San Diego State
San Jose State

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Strategic Enrollment Management April Grommo oversees admissions, outreach, registration, records and financial aid for the California State University system.

“We’re working with 16 Cal State campuses, all of which are not impacted and have the capacity to serve additional students,” Grommo said, “Cal State Long Beach was not selected because it is impacted in all majors at both the freshman and transfer levels.”

The state chancellor’s office and the advocacy and state relations team worked very closely with State Sen. Christopher Cabaldon’s office on the legislation, Grommo said. 

“We should make it as seamless for our students to go from 12th grade to the next stage of their education as it was for them to go from sixth grade to seventh grade. Direct admission removes the application hurdle that stops some students from going to college, and relieves the fear that they won’t get in anywhere,” Sen. Cabaldon said in a press release on Sept. 10, the day the bill passed. 

The Long Beach Current reached out to Sen. Cabaldon for a comment on the bill, but he was unavailable. 

In a statement by the CSU on the passing of SB 640, they stated, “We appreciate Senator Cabaldon’s leadership and partnership in ensuring that this important legislation will increase access to the CSU.”

According to Grommo, the legislation was promoted by several initiatives that had been in place within the CSU system, one of which was the Long Beach Promise.

The CSU also did a pilot program on direct admissions last fall, working with 23 districts within the Riverside County Office of Education. These programs inspired the bill and its language. 

Numerous studies have shown that applying to college is one of the most stressful experiences for students, and these direct admissions aim to alleviate that burden, Grommo said.

The dual admission program is also being extended under SB 640 until the 2035–36 academic year. It was previously set to expire during the 2026- 27 academic year.

The dual admission program is open to students who are enrolling in a California community college and have not earned college credit since finishing high school or earning a GED.

Through this program, students sign an agreement that guarantees admission to a CSU campus and a degree program of their choice. 

According to Grommo, part of the CSU system’s long-term priorities is equitable access.

“We really feel that we provide an excellent education at an affordable value proposition, and we want students to know about that opportunity and that they have the opportunity to go straight to a four-year university in the state,” Grommo said. “In our pilot program last year, we saw that many students didn’t realize they were CSU-eligible and assumed they needed to start at a community college when they were fully prepared to start at a CSU.”

The program’s infrastructure is still being developed at the state level, but school districts will collaborate with the chancellor’s office to provide a list of eligible students.

Those students will receive letters mailed to their registered addresses. The chancellor’s office aims to send them before Oct. 1, when Cal State applications open, while helping districts identify all eligible students.

While universities such as CSULB may not be participating in the program, Grommo emphasized that many CSU campuses have partnerships with local districts since the system’s universities are regionally serving institutions.

Priority is typically given to local students.

“We are excited by this program. The pilot program in Riverside County has really paved the way for this, and we are excited to work with all school districts and scale this up, and to make sure that students and families know that the CSU is an opportunity for their future,” Grommo said.