Confusion Over UC Transfers Continues
The state reversed itself last week and said it would give 5,800 recent high school graduates the option of heading directly to University of California campuses without first attending community college. But many of those students are learning that they won't be admitted to their top-choice UC schools.
The system's three most selective campuses -- UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego -- had originally offered several thousand students a "guaranteed transfer option," but just fewer than 740 of them accepted and agreed to complete two years of community college studies before enrolling in UC. Now those 740 won't have to fulfill that requirement and can go directly to one of those three campuses.
On the other hand, students who previously turned down transfer deals from UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego won't get new offers to attend those campuses. These students will be referred instead to one of the five less-selective UC undergraduate campuses.
The latest news fuels the confusion that has surrounded the now-aborted transfer program since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration proposed it in January as a cost-cutting measure.
The state budget agreement last week provided extra money that UC said would help it enroll 1,600 more students. That's the number that officials estimated would take the admissions offers so late in the game. But UC said it would enroll more if there was additional demand among the affected students.
In some cases, students still don't know whether they will be offered admission for the fall, winter or spring terms. In the case of UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego, none of the new students will be able to begin until winter or spring.
Also, requirements for how students spend their time between now and when they enroll are being decided on a campus-by-campus basis. UC Berkeley, for instance, is requiring that the new students take at least 12 units of community college courses this fall.
"For students and family members, it's been tough, given the roller coaster" of events, said Mae W. Brown, director of admissions at UC San Diego. Still, she said, "we've certainly done the very best we could do given the budget considerations, and we're delighted that this finally has been resolved."
Hanan Eisenman, a UC spokesman, said the decision by UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego to refer students to other campuses was due to shortages of faculty, facilities and preparation time.
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