FLEX Staff Writer 2010-02-22

The University of California (UC) is considered the top public college system in the world. After all, U.S. News and World Report ranks UC Berkeley and UCLA #1 and #2, respectively, for public school options in America.

However, recent factors, including California’s struggling economy, have caused the UCs to implement various policy changes which are affecting the schools – and more importantly, the students – in very adverse ways.

Change to Admission Policies

California is one of the most diverse regions of the world. The state has the largest minority population in the United States, yet no ethnic group represents more than 50% of the population. Of the population, whites and Asians combined represent roughly 50% of state’s population.

However, the demographics at the UCs paint a very different picture. In 2008, whites and Asians accounted for over 80% of all UC undergraduates and this imbalance was more pronounced at the premier UC campuses: UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, and UC Davis. This growing imbalance has led the state government to implement new policies intended to balance the demographic breakdown at the UCs. After all, the UCs are public institutions; therefore, shouldn’t the schools better reflect the state as a whole? The two key changes to the admissions policies are:

1. Eliminating the SAT Subject Test (formerly SAT 2’s) requirement and
2. Increasing admissions through the ELC program, which currently takes students from the top 4 percent of their graduating class, to the top 9 percent.

Critics of the SAT Subject Tests state that many potential UC applicants with high GPAs and SAT scores are ineligible for the UCs because they do not have access to the necessary resources to take a Subject Test. Oftentimes, they do not even know that the Subject Tests are a UC requirement. Recent studies show that blacks and Latinos from large urban and rural schools are the most affected. That being said, the UCs will strongly recommend Subject Tests for students who have access to them. For obvious reasons, this policy change has outraged many communities across the state, who argue that students should be admitted to the UCs based on their academic achievements rather than their socio-economic background. After all, are we not a meritocracy, believing that people should be rewarded based on their achievements and not other factors? And the Subject Tests are another way to highlight one’s academic achievements and differentiate themselves from other candidates in the admissions process.

Introduced in 1999, the Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) program guarantees admission to the UCs to the top 4% of every California high school senior class. This program was designed to create college opportunities for students from historically underrepresented communities and ensure that students in every participating California high school can be guaranteed a place at the UCs. Beginning in 2012, eligibility for the ELC program will increase to include the top 9% of seniors—regardless of the high school that they are graduating from. Whether you are top 9% at the notoriously competitive Monta Vista High School in Cupertino or top 9% at the comparatively easy Gilroy High School, you will be guaranteed admissions to the UCs. The same holds true for students at Saratoga High versus those at Prospect High; Gunn High versus Hillsdale High; and Lynbrook High versus Wilcox High. This program helps students from weaker high schools, but critics complain that it is not fair to the student who excels but doesn’t quite make the 9% cut at a school with higher academic standards. In any case, the changes to this UC program will dramatically decrease the enrollment of students from highly competitive high schools who could have breezed by at high schools with lower academic standards.

Budget Crisis

California’s economy has been undergoing serious budget woes. Because the UCs are public colleges, supported by the state, the state’s problems are also the UCs’ problems. One proposal has the UCs cutting the numbers of admitted students. Per the UC website, “To protect academic excellence and maintain the level of service students expect when they enroll at UC, [a new] proposal calls on UCs’ president to bring enrollments closer to the university’s budgeted levels by reducing new freshman enrollment.” However, application records are being broken year after year. (The same is true at Cal State Universities and community colleges.) This means that, at a time when more and more students are applying to California state schools, fewer and fewer will be accepted. In other words, UC admission will get proportionately more competitive. So how are California residents to cope? This is a question that the state of California has yet to answer.

Tuition Increases

Effective January 2010, the UCs raised tuition by over 30 percent, bringing the cost to attend one of its schools to over $30,000 per year. Yet the increases in tuition have not brought increases in the quality of education. On the contrary, we only see class sizes get bigger and the average time to graduate get longer. (It takes almost six years for students to graduate from UCLA because overcrowding in the school prevents many students from enrolling in classes required for graduation.)

Whereas families have historically considered the UCs a cheaper option, this is not necessarily the case. As UC tuitions go up, parents should note that private colleges—which have more money—are offering attractive financial aid packages to woo qualified students.

Tuition hikes, coupled with admissions policies that create a more competitive process, beg the question: why apply to a UC? The traditional reasons (lower cost, easier admission process) are being eroded. Therefore, families should seriously consider their private school options. During this time of uncertainty, it is comforting to know that students from California’s premier high schools are consistently gaining admission to private schools that are ranked higher than their UC options. Students rejected by UCB and UCLA are getting admitted to schools such as Johns Hopkins, U Penn, Dartmouth, and the University of Chicago. Families are advised to begin researching their options and broaden their horizons.