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In a time of budget crisis and scarce resources, statistics show that eligible underrepresented students would be mostly affected, and hundreds would have to be turned away if new UC eligibility requirements are approved next month.

The Board of Regents are considering these changes as the University of California has exceeded what is required of the California Master Plan for Higher Education.

Last year, 14.4 percent of California’s high school students achieved the GPA and testing standards required to be eligible to the University of California. The Master Plan expects only 12.5 percent of California students to be eligible for the UC each year.

Normally, the increase in high- achieving students would be a cause of celebration for many. Yet the UC is now faced with the difficult task of denying access to qualified students due to limited funding. 

Changes in GPA requirement and the Eligibility in Local Context – a measure to grant UC eligibility to the top 4 percent of students from each California high school – were recommended to bring the percentage of eligible students down to 12.5 percent.

Many of the students who will be cut if the proposed changes are passed by the regents will be students from underrepresented groups.

The proposed changes were approved by the UC Academic Senate in June, and all but the minimum GPA increase has been approved by the regents.

The vote for increasing the minimum GPA requirement from 2.8 to 3.1 was delayed to a special meeting in August. The GPA could also be adjusted up or down to bring eligibility to 12.5 percent.

Adjustments to GPA calculation to reflect all “A-G” courses taken in the sophomore and junior years and a change to define students eligible in ELC only after completion of UC course requirements were approved by the regents on July 14.

The minimum GPA increase, which would be effective fall 2007, has some concerned that the UC will turn into an “elitist” institution by denying access to students.

UCLA student Justin Kastenbaum said the changes in eligibility criteria will promote policies which will reduce already underrepresented groups and urged the regents to reject the increase in GPA.

The proposed changes will bring down eligibility rates for all ethnicities, but the proportion of whites and Asians in the total eligibility pool will increase while the percentage of underrepresented groups will go down.

Nathaniel Gilkerson, a student at East Avenue Elementary School, asked the regents to further study the impact of changing eligibility requirements to inner city schools before a decision is made.

“You will decide whether my classmates and I will be going to a UC,” Gilkerson said.

Some also asked the regents to delay voting until the academic year begins so students can have a chance to voice their opinions.

UC President Robert Dynes delayed the vote until August to give the regents and the public time to understand the changes. Dynes said the vote needed to be in August so high school counselors will know what to tell students in September to prepare for those changes.

Dynes, along with many other regents, expressed regret that the UC does not have the resources to provide access to more than 12.5 percent of California students, but said changes in eligibility are required to maintain the quality of the university.

Lawrence Pitts, chairman of the UC Academic Senate, believed the university would not be able to maintain its quality if access was expanded to 14.4 percent of students.

Pitts said taking more students than the UC could provide a quality education for “would change the nature of the university, change its contribution to the state and to the world.”

Student regent-designate Matt Murray urged the regents to balance its priority between quality and access. Murray warned denying access to many students could make the UC “elitist and inequitable.”

“Education is a great power that can be used to maintain elitism or to tear it apart,” Murray said.

The eligibility issue attracted prominent politicians to the regent’s bimonthly meeting to try to protect access for underrepresented groups.

Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante said the Master Plan’s 12.5 percent eligibility should be interpreted as a floor, not a ceiling.

Richard Alarcon, D-San Fernando Valley, expressed his belief that personal achievement, and not just academic standards need to be emphasized. Alarcon said comprehensive review – the admissions policy in which a student’s background and life struggles are considered – is the best way to ensure that underrepresented students have an opportunity to succeed.

While expressing their commitment for protecting underrepresented groups, many regents said the proposed changes would be the best solution to solve the problem presented by having a high percentage of eligible students with not enough resources to admit them.

Dynes said the changes “emphasize academic achievement while avoiding a disproportionate impact on any particular group of students.”

The California State University system, which has not reached its Master Plan eligibility target, will be expected to take the students who will not meet UC requirements under the proposed changes.

“There is nothing wrong with a state graduate. We’re not denying anyone an education,” said Regent George Marcus.

Traditionally, the UC has admitted all applicants who are UC-eligible to at least one of its campuses. Last year, the UC was not able to admit all applicants who met UC eligibility.

Instead, qualified applicants who were not offered freshman admission to any UC campus were offered a Guaranteed Transfer Option by one or more of the UC campuses. Students who accept the GTO offer start in a two-year community college and then can transfer to a UC.

Last year was the first time in 25 years that eligibility has been higher than 12.5 percent, according to studies done by the California Postsecondary Education Commission. In previous years, the UC created programs to increase the percent of students eligible for the UC system.  

Changes already approved for fall 2005 include considering students accepted through the Eligibility in Local Context program eligible only if they have completed UC course and test requirements. Previously, students could be considered eligible before completing the requirements.

The Eligibility in Local Context program was established to increase the pool of eligible students by giving eligibility to the top 4 percent of students from any California high school. ELC was established in part to reward individual academic accomplishments in the context of opportunities available to the student.

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