The University of California will vote to restrict nonresident undergraduate enrollment to 18 percent at the UC Board of Regents meeting next week.
The proposal is a revision from the regents’ original plan to limit overall nonresident enrollment at all UC campuses to 20 percent. The Board of Regents originally planned to vote on the policy in March, but delayed its vote because some regents said they thought the cap would deprive campuses of essential funding from nonresident students.
The University said more than $70 million of the tuition payment from nonresident undergraduates in the 2016-2017 academic year directly subsidized need-based aid for California resident students.
Nonresident students make up about 16.5 percent of undergraduates at the UC. If all UC campuses reached the 18 percent limit of nonresident students, the UC would take in an additional $434 million in revenue over the next five years, compared to a cap on nonresident enrollment at the current percentage. Over the same period, campuses would take in about $129 million less than they would if the UC implemented the 20 percent cap.
The proposal would require UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UCLA and UC San Diego, where the proportion of nonresident students exceeds 18 percent, to maintain their current percentage of nonresident students. The remaining five UC campuses would be able to enroll nonresident students until they reach the 18 percent limit.
The proposal would also require the regents to review the policy within four years to assess its efficacy. Additionally, it would allow the UC to consider unintended consequences of limiting enrollment at some campuses to a different percentage than at others.
According to the UC Information Center Data Warehouse, about 22.8 percent of UCLA students are nonresidents, the third-highest percentage among UC campuses. Chancellor Gene Block told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday he has no plans to increase the share of nonresident students.