Proponents say they expect the changes to help many low-income, minority, rural and inner-city students whose schools may not offer enough college prep and honors classes. UC officials have said students from more affluent, suburban communities are often disproportionately represented in the freshman class.
Under current policies, students are evaluated separately by each campus to which they apply. But if they are turned down and still deemed eligible for the UC system, they are guaranteed a spot at campuses that have room, often Riverside and Merced.
Students generally become eligible for the university through one of two pathways. They can complete a set of 15 required college prep classes and earn a combination of grades and SAT scores on a sliding index that puts them in the top 12.5% of high school graduates statewide. (A 3.0 GPA is the minimum, although students get a boost with honors classes.) Or they can earn grades that put them in the top 4% of their high school.
The plan would tighten up the statewide guarantee by reducing it to the top 9% of all high school graduates. It would broaden the local high school path by offering admission to those in the top 9% of their school's graduating class, but officials say there is significant overlap between those groups.
A category of applicants, called Entitled to Review, would be created for students who have slightly lower grades and may be a bit late in finishing requirements. They would have to complete 11 of the 15 required classes by the end of 11th grade, finish all 15 by graduation and earn a minimum GPA of 2.8 without the grade boosts UC gives for honors classes. UC campuses would read their applications but not ensure them a seat in the class, even at Riverside or Merced.
Mark Rashid, chairman of the faculty panel that wrote the plan, said thousands of excellent students remain invisible because they missed one class or test. "There are students being disenfranchised unfairly," said Rashid, a UC Davis engineering professor.
Some regents expressed skepticism.
Regent George Marcus said he worried that the public would see the change as lowering the entrance bar and that it could trigger resentment that UC would "take a seat away from seniors who followed the rules." Others warned of unintended consequences, such as signaling students to relax about taking required high school courses.
