UC Raises Grade Point Eligibility Standard

The University of California’s Board of Regents on Thursday approved a controversial plan to raise the minimum grade point average for students to become eligible for admission, despite concerns that the change will have an especially harsh effect on black and Latino students.

The decision, which takes effect for students entering the university in 2007, increases the minimum required GPA from 2.8 to 3.0, or roughly from a B-minus to a B average on a 4-point scale.

It is part of an effort by the UC to shrink its pool of eligible students and comply with guidelines in the 1960 master plan for the state’s colleges and universities.

The 14-6 vote came after more than three hours of debate by the regents, and over the objections of several Democratic lawmakers and civil rights advocates. Several dozen UC students stopped the proceedings at times with emotional appeals and angry hisses and shouts.

When the tally was announced, several students immediately stood, raised fists and began chanting, “Education is a right, not just for the rich and white!” They soon left the hall where the regents were meeting, and rallied briefly outside before dispersing.

UC President Robert C. Dynes and faculty representatives said the GPA change would reduce the eligibility rates for students of all ethnicities and said it was chosen over other options because studies indicated that it would have the “least negative impact” on African American and Latino students, who are underrepresented at UC campuses relative to their statewide populations.

“Restricting eligibility is an excruciating thing to do,” Dynes said. “But this represents a solution that makes the most sense at this time.”

UC officials said the plan was expected to reduce the number of high school graduates considered eligible for the university by 700 to 750 students, of whom only about 225 would probably apply and enroll. In 2003, 48,400 of the state’s public high school graduates were UC-eligible.

Critics at the meeting and several regents, however, objected to the anticipated disproportionate impact of the tougher standards on black and Latino students, saying that the change would further erode their number at most UC campuses, especially at its most competitive schools, UC Berkeley and UCLA. The statewide ban on affirmative action has made it more difficult for the university to admit and enroll blacks and Latinos, officials said.

According to UC estimates, the GPA hike will lower the percentage of African American students within the eligibility pool from 5.2% to 5%; for Latino students the decline will be from 5.7% to 5.6%. The percentage of Asian American students within the pool will fall from 29% to 28.5% and that for white students will decrease from 14.7% to 14.5%.

Several students pleaded with the regents not to make the change. “This is not about all these numbers,” said Linda Salinas, a UC Berkeley graduate student. “This is about students, about individuals, about changing the course of students’ lives.”

Others who attended the meeting, including Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles), said the revision was based on flawed data and urged regents to postpone a decision. His proposal was rejected in a committee vote.

The regents’ action, which was postponed from the board’s July meeting, was prompted by budget constraints and a recent study showing that 14.4% of California’s high school graduates were meeting the existing standards. According to the master plan, UC is to draw its students from the state’s top 12.5% academically, while the California State University system is expected to draw from the top third.

But a state study released in May showed that UC was exceeding its target, with the current grade and test score criteria for eligibility apparently set too low. (Students who are admitted to the university typically must meet separate, often much tougher standards for the campuses at which they hope to enroll.) In addition to the minimum grade point average, students become eligible for UC based on a sliding scale of scores on standardized tests, including the SAT.

The regents in July approved several technical changes to the eligibility rules, including requiring UC applicants, beginning in fall 2005, to calculate their grade point averages based on all 15 UC-required courses taken in their sophomore and junior years of high school. Previous UC policy had allowed the number to be based only on the student’s eight highest grades in the required courses in those years.

Those revisions were expected to lower the percentage of eligible students to about 13%. The GPA change is estimated to drop the percentage to about 12.8%.

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Raising the bar

UC regents on Thursday raised the minimum grade point average for freshman admissions in fall 2007.

Estimated percentage* of California public high school graduates eligible for admission:

In 2005 In 2007 All students 13.0% 12.8% African American 5.2 5.0 Latino 5.7 5.6 Asian American 29.0 28.5 White 14.7 14.5

* System-wide averages. Individual campuses may have stricter requirements.

Source: University of California