Well, according to my kid who is currently finishing their sophomore year at a CSU in LA County, their close friends who started at SWC (a CC in Chula Vista, CA) have all splintered away, except for one, who has followed all the rules for CSU admission has now been told by their advisor they won’t be accepted into SDSU as a junior with their soon-to-be-earned “Associate of Transfer Degree” unless they have a CC overall GPA of 3.94!
So, now that the bar for entry for SDSU as a local transfer student is even higher (it was a ~3.6 GPA two years ago), this student/good friend of my kid’s now has a “worthless” AST Degree (not applicable to any occupations such as medical billing assistant, paralegal or Network Technician, etc) unless they are able to afford housing to attend a CSU campus out-of-county. So the kid has decided to shadow a parent who is a RE salesperson after they graduate this month and study for their RE salesperson license (which they could have done right out of HS). The other HS friends of my kid who attend SWC out of HS (predictably) went down to part-time (even one class at a time) this year and increased their work hours (local, min wage jobs) due partly to the inability to get the classes they needed when they needed them and partly to not being able to see a way out of the county to attend university (without parents/relatives being able to help). One friend, who made the Dean’s list at SWC last year (in their freshman year) decided to chuck all their freshman-year credits last fall and enrolled in a one-year Medical Assistant ROP program at SWC so she could start working FT ASAP and get benefits. NONE of these kids have any desire to carry student loans.
I just ran across this piece today:
Have UC schools harmed local students with their admission policies? The regents weigh in
Teresa Watanabe
May 10, 2016 5:00 AM
University of California regents are expected to weigh in Tuesday on a scathing state audit that said UC schools have harmed local students by admitting too many out-of-state and international applicants.
UC President Janet Napolitano blasted the audit when it was released in March. She said it was unfair and glossed over the fact that out-of-state students supported the 10-campus system by paying higher tuition than California residents — an extra $728 million in fiscal year 2014 alone. That money helped campuses increase enrollment of in-state students despite the fact that the system lost one-third of its funding after the 2008 recession, Napolitano said.
“In many instances throughout the report, (the audit) drew inferences or conclusions, or limited its findings to a subset of data, that led to a critical misunderstanding of the facts,” according to a memo from Napolitano’s office to the regents.
But state auditor Elaine Howle has stood by the report. The audit offers several recommendations for changing UC’s admissions policies, including stricter entrance requirements for nonresident students, a cap on their enrollment and more focus on recruiting Californians — particularly African Americans, Latinos and other underrepresented minorities.
UC officials are required to report their progress in implementing the recommendations after 60 days, six months and one year from the report date. The regents will get their first chance to publicly discuss the issue at their three-day meeting, which opens Tuesday in Sacramento….
Are we surprised?? President Napolitano has the gall to admit what we all have known for a l-o-o-o-ong time. That is, the UC favors OOC and OOS students because they pay the full ride, plain and simple. Money talks and other stuff walks …. nevermind that a large portion of in-state UC applicants’ parents pay a boatload of taxes to this state.
It’s unfortunate, because other states give preference to in-state student applications, especially in attempt to give rural dwellers a fair shake at acceptance, since they didn’t have nearly as many HS opportunities as city dwellers (i.e. oppty for CC credits, AP credits, IB contract, etc). Unlike other states’ flagship universities, with just 1-3 campuses, UC has TEN CAMPUSES! In my mind, there is no excuse for giving away as many slots as they are to foreign and out-of-state applicants!
I hope the UC is put on the hotseat with the state audit to change their ways but somehow, I think the Regents will find a way around it by saying that they strived mightily to admit more “minority resident applicants,” but alas, only a few were “qualified.”
UC admission, more and more, is all about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
