FROM THE CAPITOL: UC Eligibility Proposal

By State Senator Leland Yee

On December 9, the University of California (UC) presented to California legislative staff a proposal to modify eligibility standards for freshmen students. Upon reviewing their proposal the Joint Asian Pacific Islander (API) Legislative Caucus along with various community partners are urging the UC Board of Regents to postpone the confirmation of UC eligibility requirements. We are requesting more studies and public hearing to ensure the proposal will fulfill the University of California and California State Legislature’s commitment to diversity.

The new admissions proposal would affect the racial and ethnic makeup of UC’s eligibility pool. The percentage of Asian Pacific Islanders in the eligibility pool would shrink from 32.6 percent to 25.5 percent, including both guaranteed applicants and entitled to review applicants. The UC has not made available sufficient information on how or what aspects of the proposal would cause this decrease.

In a letter to the UC Regent, the Joint API Legislative Caucus has requested a more thorough evaluation of how the new SAT Reasoning Test conforms to the UC testing policies needs to be conducted. A formal evaluation is necessary to ensure that the decision to use aptitude tests over achievement-oriented tests does not adversely impact low-income and minority students.

The state’s Master Plan for High Education directs UC to select first-time freshmen from the top one-eigth (12.5 percent) of all graduates from California public high schools. The UC’s new eligibility proposal would significantly change which and how many high school graduates are eligible to attend the university. It would depart from the Master Plan’s target eligibility pool, increase uncertainty about who would be accepted, and affect the racial-ethnic makeup of UC’s eligibility pool.

California is and has always been a diverse state and it is evident in all of our UC campuses. I hope the Board of Regents recognizes the effort that it took to get us to this point, and does not brush it away with new policies that will have uncertain results.