[quote=ltsdd][quote=spdrun]Also, can someone apply to a UC as a different prospective major, then change to engineering/CS? Nothing wrong with a bit of creative prevarication to get what one wants.[/quote]
That was difficult even 30+ years ago. UCSD’s engineering became an impacted major as early as the late 80s….and it looks like the official policy now is that a student can’t change to an impacted/capped major.
1) While the UC System can’t directly apply affirmative action, they can take action to make sure admissions are reflective of the population of California. This creates a partial racial profile. This creates a problem where not all admitted have the ability to complete the coursework due to weaker High School Education. This creates a situation where graduates may take longer than 4 years to complete their degree, or never complete.
2) The available courses do not reflect the actual market demand for the skills. We have a very large demand for EE, CE, CS people – yet the funding doesn’t necessarily reflect it. There is a perceived importance within the UC System, in making sure that there is a ‘diversity’ in education paths as well as having those paths supported. However, it ignores the need of the public and part of the real task of the UC System. Too many degrees are being supported that don’t lead to a employment opportunity that would pay off or support the costs of education. At the same time, California and the United States economy are crying for other degrees that are being left under-supplied. The UC System needs to recognize that part of their money comes from the State as well as the land they are on – and they have an implicit requirement to supply the education that the state needs.
Fixes?:
1) Drive the education requirements that are needed for college down the the High Schools. In part, this is being done through Common Core, however Common Core is being fought by the Teachers Unions and others, as well as being corrupted from within and through the Text Book Publishers.
2) Start increasing funding of impacted educational paths. They are obviously needed by the public and industries that end up funding the UC System. This may mean cutting back some of the other study paths to a degree. When I went through the UC System, there was one course EECS 163(A/B) that was a requirement for the EE/CE degree. This course was only taught by one Professor. During my time, there were only about 10 Professors that handled the upper division courses required for the EE, CE and CS degrees. Some of these Professors also handled some of the lower division requirements for the courses.
3) Get the UC System to understand that they need to serve the citizens of California, else they have no right to use the land they are on which came at a discount because it is a public University intended to serve the residents of California. Expose the UC System to the real costs involved in a student that is not a California resident, so that the University sees the real costs not just the increased tuition. The current arrangement distorts the actual costs and profits.
Sorry if I am a little disjoint here – I have been watching the online series called “Mostly Human” as I type(multi-tasking) http://money.cnn.com/mostly-human/
