Abstract:

The offering of ethnic studies in higher education has been a topic of contention for
decades. California, the birthplace of ethnic studies, became the first state to require it as a
graduation requirement within their public university system, the California State University
(CSU). What is of further interest is that it was the state government, and not the CSU system, that
intervened to implement it with the passing of a legislative bill, Assembly Bill (AB) 1460. This
paper investigates the movement that led to the codification of this legislation in hopes of
answering a question on many stakeholders’ minds: will California be the first or the only state to make ethnic studies a graduation requirement in a higher education system? Drawing on literature reviews composed of various primary and secondary sources in addition to an expert interview, this study reveals the extent to which the movement that brought about AB 1460 can be replicated in other American states.