ER, I was noticing this, also, when investigating alternatives to the (broken) CSU system in which it now takes 6-8 years to graduate out of most programs.
All campuses of UC (excepting Fresno, Merced and Santa Cruz) are overwhelmingly accepting freshman with 4.0+ GPA (weighted with AP credits) along with out-of-state/out-of-country applicants with same credentials over similarly or less qualified in-state residents.
I found that the vast majority of these private schools, while offering generous aid, are ULTRA-picky. In short, they are admitting applicants with a 4.0+ GPA and who have a 1700+ SAT score and a 30+ ACT score.
I’m still trying to convince my last kid to consider four out-of-state four-year public colleges (two of which they can currently qualify to be admitted to as a freshman) and one of which they can get a four-year “free ride,” excepting an approx $180 – $200 mo housing expense.
My kid won’t consider visiting these campuses because they still dream of going to college in-state.
The “B” CA-resident incoming freshman apparently isn’t welcome anymore at CA’s public universities because these systems receive far more in fees by accepting OOS/OOC applicants.
I don’t think it’s right, especially in light of the fact that many of these resident-applicants’ parents pay taxes on two or more residences and also investment properties in CA. These property tax coffers are intercepted by the state (and portions removed for the UC/CSU systems) before portions are reapportioned and redirected back to the counties, schools and the respective agencies for which the county tax collectors collect from each parcel in their jurisdiction on the behalf of these payees.
For the above reasons and more, I feel CA has a duty to offer its public-university freshman slots to qualified “B” resident applicants over OOS/OOC applicants …. as many other states do. Many flyover states with high rural populations, especially, realize that their 1-3 in-state university campuses are the only hope for half the resident incoming-freshman population in their states to receive any opportunity at all for a higher education. For instance, they don’t give too many of those coveted slots away to engineer-hopefuls from Pakistan or India without thoroughly culling THEIR OWN in-state applicants first.
