Wednesday, February 12, 1997
ADMISSIONS:
Prop. 209, regents’ decision cited as possible causes of
declineBy Brooke Olson
Daily Bruin Staff
In light of a recent admissions report released by the UC Office
of the President, students and administrators are exploring the
possible reasons for a decline in the number of Fall 1997
undergraduate applications from most underrepresented minority
groups and transfer students.
The most notable decrease was the 13-percent drop in
applications from African Americans and American Indians. Chicano
and Latino applications for Fall 1997 also dropped over 4 percent
this year.
Although a number of reasons were given for the decline, some
administrators and students ascribed the decrease to a possible
deterrence by recent state legislation.
"The message that the Board of Regents has sent to students of
color is a message that they are not welcome at the universities,"
said undergraduate President John Du.
Over the last two years, the issue of affirmative action has
come under fire by both the regents and California voters.
In July 1995, the regents adopted a resolution eliminating the
consideration of race and gender in the admissions processes.
In addition, during last November’s elections, California voters
overwhelmingly approved Proposition 209, which prohibits the use of
race and gender in state hiring, contracting and admissions.
However, neither the regents’ decision nor Proposition 209 will
affect undergraduate enrollment for Fall 1997.
While the regents’ decision is not set to go into effect until
Fall 1998, implementation of Proposition 209 has been blocked by a
federal court on the grounds that the initiative may be
unconstitutional.
However, some administrators and students believe the applicants
may be unaware that these decisions do not affect current
admissions process.
"People don’t necessarily see that Judge Henderson blocked the
implementation of Prop. 209," said Glenn Inanaga, undergraduate
internal vice president. "What people see is this environment in
California that is hostile and unwelcome to minority students."
However, some administrators believe that the declining
enrollment is not due to a belief among some minority candidates
that they are no longer welcome.
"I don’t think that’s correct, but that is the perception," said
UC Admissions Director Carla Ferri in an interview with the Los
Angeles Times last week.
Instead, according to administrators, a number of reasons could
be responsible for the decrease, including financial difficulties
and a possible increase in the number of students moving directly
into the work force.
"It’s hard to say exactly what the causes are," Lifka said. "You
can’t pinpoint it on one single issue and say that’s the problem or
the cause."
UC officials will soon launch a study into the declining
minority applications to determine the reason, administrators said.
The study will be completed by the end of the year.
Despite the decline in certain minority groups and transfer
students, the total number of applications from prospective
freshman actually rose 4.6 percent, up from 27,209 in Fall 1996 to
28,468 for Fall 1997.
Campus administrators attributed the increase of applications to
the public school’s ability to provide high quality education at a
relatively low cost, as compared to private universities.
"Because the university’s fees are flat, the expense gap between
UCLA and highly competitive private schools keeps getting greater,"
said Tom Lifka, associate vice chancellor of academic services.
"We’re a bigger and better bargain every year that fees don’t go
up," he added.
Current yearly estimates for UCs, including fees, cost of living
and personal expenses run about $12,885, as compared to the
estimated $27,517 for private institutions, according to data
released by the Office of the President Student Academic
Services.
No matter what the motivation behind the admission statistics,
it is likely that thousands of highly qualified applicants will be
disappointed when acceptances and rejection notices are issued in
late March.
UCLA admissions officers are currently sorting through 29,000
applications for a maximum of 11,000 openings.
"There’s both good news and bad news to these numbers," Lifka
said. "We’re getting so many qualified students, but inevitably
you’ll have to deny some of them admission."