The Nexus

In an attempt to supplement rising costs and lower budgets, the University of California system has debated accepting more out-of-state students.

UC regents have been pushing for this transition for the past few months, as many other state universities around the country have begun accepting more out-of-state students.

Proposals aim to cap the percentage of overall admissions of non-Californians at 10 percent.

In comparison to other state universities, the UC system accepts a relatively small number of non-resident students.

Berkeley and Los Angeles accept the most, at 10 percent, whereas UC Riverside and Irvine enroll less than five percent.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, about 16 percent of first-time undergraduates at public four-year colleges and universities nationwide come from out of state. Prestigious state universities in Colorado, Michigan, Virginia and elsewhere regularly enroll more than 30 percent of their freshmen from outside of their borders.

Those non-Californians end up paying around $20,000 more than their in-state counterparts. By accepting more out-of-state students, the UCs would stand to gain more revenue.

David Shulenburger, Vice President for academic affairs at the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges addressed the proposal for the UC and other public universities as “a matter of survivability.”

In general, those who apply from beyond California’s borders are held to a higher standard in terms of their SAT scores and their overall GPAs.

UC financial aid is harder to receive for out-of-state students.

UC regents also cite that an increase in out-of-state acceptances would result in advantageously diverse student bodies.

The CSU system admits an even lower number of non-Californians, nearly four percent, but it has not laid out any plans to change this. Instead, CSUs are planning to cut approximately 10,000 freshman admissions.

There are potential consequences to the plans, however. In an increasingly competitive college admissions environment, implementing a program such as this would undoubtedly increase competition.

This in turn would lead to fewer admissions and fewer options for California’s students. Sheridan Martini (11) plans on applying to UCs, but the proposed numbers force her to consider new options.

“It doesn’t change my applying to any UCs, but it means that I should lower my expectations and maybe apply to more out-of- state,” she said.

In a dismal economy, it may force in-state students to look outside California, which would entail higher costs for them. Even so, UC President Mark Yudof said in a letter on the UC website that the plans are a necessary evil.

“It is an excruciating decision to reduce opportunity for students in any way, but the lack of sufficient state funding leaves us no choice,” Yudof said.