While budget cuts are remaking education across the country, California’s still stand out for their severity. Among the resulting changes are admissions and access to the state’s flagship higher education system, the University of California. Here is a look at the new reality.
Competition
Securing a seat in the system has become more difficult than ever, as 100,000 students applied this year. “It’s the highest number of applicants we’ve ever had and the fewest we’ve offered admissions,” said Don Daves-Rougeaux, the university’s associate director of undergraduate admissions articulation and eligibility. The University of California, Los Angeles, was the most selective campus, but the University of California, Berkeley, had the highest average grade-point average for incoming freshmen, at 4.19. All but the University of California, Riverside, and the University of California, Merced, recorded their lowest admissions rates ever, The Associated Press reported.
Enrollment
As part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed restoration of $305 million in state support for the system, a state budget subcommittee on Tuesday approved $51 million to cover enrollment. It’s a good start, said Susan Wilbur, the university’s director of admissions. But she added that the system had chronically over-enrolled California residents. She estimated that there were 15,000 more students enrolled than the state was paying for. The unsustainability of this practice led administrators to begin cutting enrollment for the first time in 2008-9. This year, 1,500 spaces were cut, and the university instituted its first-ever waiting list to give it more flexibility in meeting enrollment targets. The extra state support should cover about one-third of excess enrollment.
Opportunity
At last week’s meeting of the University Regents, when I asked the University of California’s president, Mark Yudof, what he considered his greatest achievement in terms of increasing access for incoming students, he cited hisBlue and Gold Opportunity Plan. It is meant to ensure that low-income students can attend the university regardless of income. The plan, adopted simultaneously with a historic enrollment cutback last February, covers system-wide fees for students whose families make less than $60,000 a year. Starting in 2010-11, the income threshold will rise to $70,000. At that time, undergraduate resident fees for those not covered by the plan will rise to $11,287, after the 32 percent fee increase approved this fall.
Geography
The number of out-of-state and international students admitted has risen by 25 percent in the past year, to 9,552 from 7,634. That will produce about $43.5 million in nonresident fees, according to the university’s online admissions information. At U.C. Berkeley — which has the highest number of nonresident students — the percentage of nonresidents admitted rose to 18.5 percent from 7.9 percent. But “the university remains committed to access for California’s students,” Dr. Wilbur said in a telephone interview. “You need to understand that flat-out, that is our official position.” That said, she added, “over the last two years we have worked to bring our California resident enrollments in line with the funding we receive from the state. They were out of balance. We honored our promise to offer a place to every eligible student, but the goal was to reduce California residents.” Nonresident enrollment varies among the campuses, she said, noting that the strength of campus’s reputation is an important factor. “You could go to Saudi Arabia, you could go to China, you could go to Brazil and see kids walking around with Berkeley T-shirts on,” she said.
Freshmen
Starting in the fall of 2012, the university will retain a place for just the top 9 percent of graduating seniors statewide. But in addition to students who qualify by being at the top of their individual high schools, this number will be closer to 10 percent, Dr. Wilbur said. The California Master Plan for Higher Education , which outlined the goals and purpose of the state’s three-tiered higher education system, guaranteed admission to the top 12.5 percent of seniors when it was signed in 1960. The university also intends to release a five-year comprehensive admissions review aimed at reforming admissions and eligibility this July.
Transfers
Despite overall decreases in enrollment, the university successfully focused on ushering in transfer students this year. Although final admissions numbers are not yet in, Dr. Wilbur said she was confident the university met its goal of increasing California community college transfers by at least 500 students. Over all, there was an almost 21 percent increase in applicants from state community colleges.
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