Things might get a bit crowded at this already burgeoning
campus, with UCLA admitting 1,400 more transfer students this fall
than it did this past year.
Sarah Hawkins, a student who attends school in Montana and is
currently taking summer classes at UCLA, considered transferring to
UCLA for the fall quarter.
“I’m looking for a film major, and this is
definitely the place to be for film,” Hawkins said.
Hanan Eisenman, a spokesman for the University of California
Office of the President, said the popularity of UC schools may be
due to an increase in college-aged population.
Eisenman said in 1999, the University of California projected a
growth of about 64,000 students in the next decade.
“With the system already growing by 30,000 students, we
will need to amend this projection,” Eisenman added.
This increase in admissions, however, has not affected
underrepresented minorities, who actually registered a slight
decrease in admission numbers in 2003.
The number of admitted minority transfer students, however, has
continued to increase.
One explanation for this increase in minority transfer students,
Eisenman said, are the different outreach programs in which UCLA is
involved, such as the transfer alliance program.
This program gives community college attendees the opportunity
to transfer as third-year students.
Those who complete the program’s requirements are given
priority for admission to the College of Letters & Science.
Jo Cong, a third-year classics student, transferred to UCLA this
year with the help of the transfer alliance program.
She said by first going to a community college, she was able to
save money living at home.
“I graduated high school a year early, and I thought a
community college was a good place to start,” Cong said.
The increase in admissions will also affect campus institutions
including housing and parking.
Angela Marciano, an associate director of housing and
hospitality, said the Housing Administration has been meeting its
guarantee to students, which ensures incoming freshmen a two-year
housing plan, and transfer students a one-year housing plan.
Marciano said this guarantee has been met since the early 1990s
when it went into effect, and new construction projects will also
work toward meeting future students’ needs.
“Currently we are involved in the creation of a new
housing plan that will offer about 2,000 new beds for
undergraduates and 2,000 more for single graduate students,”
she said.
The new housing structures will guarantee four years of housing
to first-year students and two years of housing to transfer
students by 2006, Marciano added.
Fourth-year political science student Louis Morra believes new
housing will offer an improvement over the current housing
shortage.
“I transferred in as a third year, and didn’t have
any trouble with housing,” Morra said. “Now, though, I
am having a whole lot of trouble.”
Because he is no longer guaranteed housing, Morra has to look
for a place on his own or submit his name to a housing lottery that
does not guarantee him a place.
“I didn’t want to go through that,” he added.
“I didn’t want to pay a fee to be placed in the lottery
system.”