UC Turns Away 8,700 Eligible Freshmen

TINA NGUYEN / The Daily Californian 21apr04

The UC system turned away 8,700 freshmen it would have otherwise accepted this year because of budget cuts, adding to a sharp drop in underrepresented admits, UC officials announced yesterday.

At the same time that 8,700 students are turned away. . . Marye Anne Fox is hired for $350,000 as chancellor at UC San Diego, which is nearly $70,000 more than the last chancellor was paid. See editorial below

Marye Anne Fox

The number of black students admitted to UC Berkeley plummeted by about 30 percent this year, and underrepresented freshmen admits dropped by 12.5 percent.

This year marked the first time in more than four decades that the university system has not been able to offer space to all eligible applicants.

“This has not been a terrific year for students and the university,” said Susan Wilbur, director of undergraduate admissions for UC. “We’re hoping this situation is temporary and that we can resume finding a place for all students in the future.”

Wilbur said the marked decline of black, Latino and Native American students could stem from an overall drop in the number of underrepresented students who applied along with fee increases and enrollment reductions mandated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal.

A 50 percent cut in funding for outreach programs may have also hurt UC’s ability to recruit underrepresented students to apply.

UC officials denied that the drop could have been related to additional restrictions in reviewing applications this year, including blocking out names of applicants and re-evaluating applicants with low SAT scores.

The extra review for low-scoring admits only knocked out two applicants, said Richard Black, assistant vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment.

This year’s admissions statistics revealed the largest drop in the number of underrepresented minority admits since the first year the statewide affirmative action ban took effect in 1998.

“Without those students, the education of all Berkeley undergraduates has diminished,” Black said. “We all learn from each other, and in the absence of a particular group of students, everyone else is deprived of a learning opportunity.”

Chancellor Robert Berdahl called the numbers “flat-out unacceptable” and pledged to devote his remaining time in office to devising new programs to boost underrepresented minority applications and admits.

Overall, UC Berkeley’s admission rate rose slightly to 24.2 percent. It is the second year that UCLA has been more selective than UC Berkeley.

Women make up 55 percent of the admitted class, and the number of out-of-state and international admits increased slightly.

The number of admits for Asian-American and white students grew by 5 and 11 percent respectively.

Across the UC system, admits from low-income families increased to 24.7 percent from 22.8 percent last year.

Of the 8,700 UC-eligible applicants who were turned away, 7,600 were offered a guaranteed transfer to a UC campus after completing work at a community college.

It is unknown as to how many of these students will accept the transfer plan.

A few UC Berkeley students reacted with outrage at the plunge in admission offers to underrepresented minority applicants.

“For the premiere public university to be the most segregated is appalling,” said Yvette Felarca, ASUC senator and BAMN organizer who staged a small rally in front of California Hall yesterday. “We don’t care about excuses that the administration might pull. Their job is to make sure (the university) is accessible to all students.”

UC Berkeley officials said they plan to remedy the decline by the next application season this fall, but did not specify how.

“We are all deeply distressed by this decline,” Black said. “We are committed to doing anything we can to reverse it.”

source: http://www.dailycal.org/particle.asp?id=15026 23apr04

Admissions Report Shows Disturbing Trends

EDITORIAL / The Daily Californian 23apr04

The release of UC admissions data this week come as a miserable disappointment. For the first time, UC is unable to accommodate all of its eligible applicants and it is taking a tremendous toll on underrepresented minorities.

The most pressing problem these data reveal are the abysmally low numbers of underrepresented minorities admitted to UC Berkeley. It is inconceivable in the nation’s most populous state that only 211 black applicants have been offered admission here.

Addressing this continuing problem will require action on several fronts. At the state level a concerted effort must be made to increase the number of students admitted overall while maintaining UC’s high standards. UC admission criteria must be re-developed to promote greater diversity while staying within the limits of the law. Since budget cuts have undermined outreach efforts, parents and communities must band together to promote college as a goal for all students at the local level in new and creative ways.

Limiting the discussion of these data, however, only to their impacts on underrepresented minorities ignores the overarching current failures of UC and the state of California. Instead of living up to its obligation to find a place for all its eligible applicants as dictated by the 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education, state-implemented budget cuts are forcing UC to turn away the very people it was established to serve. As a bandage, the state offered 7,600 students guaranteed transfer status after satisfactorily completing the necessary curriculum at a state community college.

What the tax-paying students and citizens of California need are long-term solutions to these problems. It is in our own best interests to increase diversity and make UC available to all students who have earned their spot here. Stop-gap measures are unacceptable means to reward students who have earned the right to attend UC.

source: http://www.dailycal.org/particle.asp?id=15068 23apr04