To improve his chances of being accepted at UCLA, Carson High
School senior Richard Din participated in a University of
California application workshop organized by the Early Academic
Outreach Program.
Students might not be given that opportunity next year.
In an effort to combat the expected state budget deficit, which
some experts say might total as much as $20 billion next year, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a budget proposal last week that would
eliminate all state funding to higher education outreach
programs.
This proposal would, in effect, terminate academic outreach
programs such as EAOP and Puente.
“Many people here are not informed about college, and
without outreach I definitely think less Carson students will
attend the UCs,” Din said.
EAOP assists middle and high school students from disadvantaged
backgrounds further their academic careers by helping them get into
the colleges of their choice.
Winston Doby, UC vice president of educational outreach, said
outreach has two goals: to increase the number of students coming
to the UC from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds and to close
the achievement gap among different segments of the state’s
population.
The program does not come cheaply, however. During its boom,
annual state spending for outreach peaked at about $185 million,
and though it has since been scaled back, experts estimate the
state could save $85.3 million annually by eliminating
outreach.
Regent Dolores Huerta said no matter the cost, eliminating
outreach would be devastating because it would significantly reduce
the number of minority students enrolled in higher education
institutions in California.
“If more taxes need to be raised, then that is exactly
what we will need to do. We need to give all our students a
chance,” Huerta said.
Students would not be the only ones impacted if state outreach
funding was taken away. Doby said canceling outreach programs would
mean the loss of 600 to 700 jobs in all segments of higher
education.
In addition to job loss and potential implications for
enrollment in UCs, many officials at the high school level are
concerned about the possible effects of Schwarzenegger’s
proposal.
“To me it’s heartbreaking that someone who seems to
be committed to inner city kids (also) seems to be behind
eliminating programs that would benefit them,” said John
Orendorff, a college counselor at Belmont High School in Los
Angeles.
He added that outreach helps him to establish a connection with
students.
“To the kids I am a dinosaur. They want to know how it is
to be a student in 2003, and this is where outreach is extremely
beneficial,” Orendorff said.
Honey Koletty, a Carson High School college counselor, said the
termination of outreach would be devastating to her school.
“Outreach programs have been invaluable to us. It made an
incredible difference, especially in a large urban high school such
as ours,” she said.
“It’s a travesty to eliminate these programs,”
Koletty added.
According to Lavonne Luquis, spokeswoman for UC Office of the
President, up to 120,000 students from disadvantaged backgrounds
would be impacted if outreach programs were canceled.
However, Doby said the cancelation of outreach would also have a
negative impact far beyond disadvantaged students.
“Outreach gives all students the opportunity to appreciate
the diverse culture that make up our state, and with it gone this
appreciation will be taken away,” Doby said.
Huerta also believes in the far-ranging benefits of
outreach.
“All students need to be able to gain access to those
different than themselves, and outreach provides that,” she
said.
Doby added that the elimination of outreach would create a
“university system that serves the children of the wealthy
and deprives children from disadvantaged backgrounds.”
Presently, 80 percent of UC-eligible students come from about 20
percent of high schools, most of which are located in wealthy
suburban communities.
“If we want the future leaders of our state to look like
the composition of the state itself, we need to reach out to the
disadvantaged communities,” Doby said.
“Outreach needs to serve as a bridge between the
university and those communities,” he added.