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EDITORIAL:
Admit qualified students to UC
San
Francisco Chonicle
Thursday, September 23, 2004
(EJS
website note: Also see media advisory, "Civil
Rights Groups, Political Leaders, and Students Oppose Restrictions
to University of California Eligibility Criteria")
It's
hard to imagine that more students doing better in our schools
should represent a problem. Yet that is precisely the case when
it comes to the increasing number of students qualifying to enter
the University of California.
Over
the past decade, the academic performance of public school students
has thankfully improved on a number of measures. Based on a range
of academic criteria established by the university, more high
school graduates are eligible to attend UC. You'd think those
students would be welcomed with open arms. Instead, some of them
are in danger of being turned away, because even though they meet
the eligibility requirements, the university is telling them it
cannot enroll them.
The
reason? Under California's 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education,
UC is expected to draw from the top 12.5 percent, or one-eighth,
of the high school graduating class. As the number of students
who are eligible rises, UC's response has been to tighten its
admissions requirements to keep within the 12.5 percent benchmark.
A recent
study by the California Post Secondary Education Commission found
that UC was drawing from the top 14.4 percent of the high school
graduating class, instead of the top 12.5 percent. The UC Board
of Regents has already made some technical changes to drive down
the number of students who would qualify for admission. Today
in San Francisco, the board is expected to raise the GPA from
2.8 to 3.0 that high school graduates will need to achieve on
a set of required courses to be eligible for admission.
But
rather than closing its doors, UC should be admitting as many
qualified students as possible. By tightening its admissions requirements,
UC may be providing students who might otherwise have enrolled
at UC a disincentive for improving their academic performance.
What's
largely ignored is that even though the Master Plan specifies
that UC should draw from the top 12.5 percent of high school graduates,
a far smaller percentage -- some 7 to 8 percent -- actually enroll
at one of its nine campuses. That's because many of those eligible
to attend UC end up enrolling at other colleges and universities.
So
the 12.5 percent figure should not be viewed as an 11th California
commandment that cannot be changed. The goal should be to provide
greater access to UC and our other systems of higher education,
not less.
We
understand that the funding UC receives from Sacramento is calculated
on its offering admission only to the top one-eighth of the high
school graduating class. But the university, along with the Legislature
and Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, should take a fresh look at whether it
makes sense to slavishly adhere to this decades-old benchmark.
It is in California's interest to figure out a way to admit students
who meet UC's eligibility requirements, instead of setting up
new obstacles to keep them out.
San
Francisco Chronicle (Sept. 23, 2004), Page B - 8
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