The University of California admitted fewer students with low SAT scores to this year's freshman class than it did in 2003, following criticism that the university was accepting ill-prepared students in a back-door effort to boost enrollment of underrepresented minorities.
Overall, UC campuses in 2004 admitted nearly 2,200 fewer applicants with scores of 1000 or below on the widely used college entrance exam, a drop of 26.6% from the year before, according to a Times analysis of admissions figures. The national and state averages on the exam are about 1020 of a possible 1600.
Critics of the university's past admissions practices found some vindication in the new data. They said the change showed UC had responded to complaints from UC Regent John J. Moores that it was accepting too many students with below-average SAT scores and possibly violating the state's ban on affirmative action.
UC admissions officials, however, said they made no adjustments in admissions as a result of questions raised in 2003 by Moores, who then headed the regents' board.
"Campuses did not change their practices last year in response to that," said Susan Wilbur, UC's systemwide director of admissions. Wilbur also said UC gives SAT scores less weight than it does other factors, including high school grades.
The officials said the decline stemmed from other factors, including better academic preparation among applicants, state budget problems that prompted the university to admit fewer students and a dip in applications for 2004, both overall and among lower-scoring students. The latter accounted for a little more than a third of the drop in admissions of below-average scorers, Times analysis shows.
Wilbur and others said UC continues to make minor refinements in a controversial entrance policy, first used in 2002, that allows personal factors, including hardship, to be considered alongside grades and test scores for every applicant. They say the policy, styled after those used by many top-tier private colleges, allows a more complete evaluation.
Moores and other critics have questioned whether the policy, known as comprehensive review, has weakened the academic caliber of UC students. Also at issue, they say, is whether the more flexible standards are an attempt to get around the state's 1996 ban on the use of race in hiring or admission at public institutions, including colleges.
UC officials have denied that.
In response to a Times request, UC provided data for two groups of students who applied to its eight undergraduate campuses for fall 2004: those with SAT scores of 1000 or below and those with scores above 1400. The analysis focused on SAT scores in order to compare the data with that for earlier years; Moores, in a 2003 report, used the test scores as his benchmark.
Overall, the 2004 figures show, 51% of applicants with SAT scores of 1000 or below were offered a place by at least one UC campus, compared to 63% the year before.
At the same time, 89% of students with SAT scores above 1400 were accepted, up from 88% than a year earlier. In all, 8,359 such students were admitted in 2004, an increase of about 5% from the previous year.
Still, underlining how competitive UC admissions have become, these high-scoring applicants, in many cases, were rejected by the most selective campuses. At UC Berkeley, for example, 43% of applicants with SAT scores above 1400 were turned down in 2004. In 2003, 48% of such students were denied admission.
Across the UC system, the small shift to admitting more high scorers mainly benefited white and Asian applicants, who together make up more than three-quarters of such applicants.
In contrast, among students with SAT scores of 1000 or below, Latinos were the largest ethnic group applying and accepted. Within that relatively low-scoring group, they also were granted entry by at least one UC at a higher rate than others: 58% of Latinos with lower SATs were accepted, compared with 54% of Asian Americans, 42% of whites and 38% of African Americans. However, the admissions rate for applicants with lower SAT scores dropped for all such ethnic groups from the year before.
Race Not Considered
UC officials said they do not consider race or ethnicity in admissions decisions, and they attributed the varying acceptance rates to differences in the academic and personal backgrounds of the students.
UC officials, including admissions director Wilbur, said the analysis was limited because it was too focused on the SAT. They also emphasized that because of concerns about its usefulness and fairness, the test has been downplayed in the university's admissions. A revamped SAT was introduced this spring by its owner, the College Board, and will be used in selecting next year's UC freshman class.
