Student Transfers

Facing yawning budget gaps, California's public universities are shifting thousands of applicants into a community college system already swamped by newly unemployed adults and students priced out of other schools. By holding down enrollment, the shift would help balance budgets at UC and CSU campuses.

Leaders of California's public college and university systems announced Wednesday that they are launching a joint task force to boost the number of community college students who transfer to the state's four-year universities. Only 14,000 of the 2.7 million students enrolled in the state's 110 community colleges transfer to University of California campuses, and 55,000 others move on to California State University campuses.

The Southern Section said Wednesday it has started an inquiry into whether any rules were broken in the numerous transfers of talented boys basketball players who have played at perennial CIF power Compton Dominguez High. "We have received a request from the CIF Southern Section, and the request is under consideration at this time," Compton Unified School District spokeswoman Christine Sanchez said.

Damian Williams, a wide receiver from Arkansas who was selected to the Southeastern Conference all-freshman team this season, will transfer to USC and is in the process of enrolling for the spring semester, his father said Tuesday. Williams, 6 feet 1 and 188 pounds, caught four passes for 62 yards in a 50-14, season-opening loss to USC at Fayetteville, Ark. He finished the season with 19 receptions for 235 yards and two touchdowns.

USC sophomore forward Kyle Austin confirmed Tuesday that he intended to transfer at the semester break to a Big West Conference school because of a lack of playing time. "I really didn't see a spot for me on this team," said Austin, who had played only two minutes this season before suffering a serious back injury in practice last month that has sidelined him indefinitely.

A national organization dedicated to parental choice in schools filed complaints Thursday with the Los Angeles and Compton school districts, claiming they do not give parents adequate notice that students can transfer from underperforming schools. In making the charges, the Alliance for School Choice -- along with the faith-based Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education -- called on U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to sanction the two districts by withholding funds for poor students.

The application process for Los Angeles Unified School District parents who want to transfer their children to a different campus next year begins Monday. Students may transfer from their assigned school to any other traditional campus if space is available. By Monday, a list of campuses expected to have open seats will be posted in each district school.

Remarkably few community college students transfer to prestigious private schools despite being highly qualified, according to a new study. Less than 1% of incoming students at the nation's private elite four-year schools transferred from community colleges in 2002, the study found. By contrast, nearly 80% of community college students transferred to what the study called "nonselective" four-year schools between 1992 and 2000.

The University of California said Thursday that it has admitted 16,620 transfer students for the fall from California community colleges, up 2.4% from 2005. The proportion of Latino, African American and Native American students in the transfer group also rose, from 19% in 2005 to 19.9% this year. At UCLA, students from those underrepresented minority groups constituted 19.2% of the admitted transfers this year, up from 17.8% in 2005.

Community college student Kristen Grand dreams of transferring to Cal State Long Beach so she can earn a bachelor's degree in social work and become an adoption caseworker. But the process of accumulating the right course work and filling all the requirements is overwhelming, the 26-year-old says. "It's kind of stressful," Grand said after class at Long Beach City College one afternoon this week. "Finances, for one, and whether I'm going to get the right amount of counseling to figure out what I need to do."