By Bimal Rajkomar
Daily Bruin Contributor
A new proposal could make university admission more attainable
for California students, and possibly boost minority enrollment in
the UC.
But the effect on more competitive campuses, like UCLA and
Berkeley, are still uncertain.
Last month, UC President Richard Atkinson proposed a plan to
grant UC admission to the top 12.5 percent of every high school
graduating class in the state, provided they satisfactorily finish
a transfer program at a community college. The proposal must still
be approved by the UC Board of Regents.
“The purpose of the proposal is to increase the number of
transfers and expand educational opportunities for all
students,” said UC spokesman Terry Lightfoot.
The new proposal will not add to Tidal Wave II, an expected
influx of 60,000 students by 2010, officials said.
“It appears that there will not be further growth than
what was predicted earlier. We are already straining; to add even
more students would be impossible.” said Paula Lutomirski,
Associate Vice Chancellor of Institutional Planning.
No students currently eligible would be made ineligible, because
of the “dual admissions” policy.
“I think it is likely that more minorities will be
admitted based on estimates done on potential students,”
Lutomirski said, referring to Tidal Wave II.
According to the UC Office of the President, the majority of
expected dual admissions students are predominately white and
Asian.
The new pool of students, however, will be more diverse than
current eligibility pools, with 34-36 percent of them being
underrepresented minorities. This is more than the current
pool’s underrepresented minority population, which is at 12
percent.
Lightfoot said the proposal should benefit lower-income and
rural students as well.
Although under the new plan, high school students are guaranteed
admission to a UC school, it does not mean they will get their
first choice campus.
All UC schools are expected to participate, but Lightfoot said
how the proposal could affect individual schools, particularly the
more competitive ones like UCLA and UC Berkeley, is still
unclear.
The new plan would require the university and community colleges
to work together more than they have in the past. Officials from
both the UC and community colleges agreed that they would have to
work together to create rigorous programs which fulfill the
university requirements.
Both community colleges and the university have looked favorably
at the proposal.
“We welcome it with open arms,” said Cheryl
Armstrong, director of the transfer center at Los Angeles City
College. “Since we already have existing pre-major and
general education programs, these students would fit right into the
plan.”
Lutomirski, who noted that UCLA has exceeded expected transfer
rates in the past years, also supports the proposal.
“I think it will increase student quality and improve the
quality of lower division programs in community colleges. It looks
like everyone benefits,” she said, adding that most of the
findings are still preliminary.
The dual admission plan would make UC admissions more like what
they were in the ’60s, when most students entered university
through two year institutions.
Currently, students are eligible for UC schools by ranking in
the top 4 percent of their high school class or in the top 12.5
percent of all high school graduates statewide.
Atkinson proposed the plan to maintain the viability of the
California Master plan for Higher Education, which promises a high
quality affordable college education to all California high school
graduates who seek one.