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In the News
San Jose Mercury News (CA)
October 28, 2006
Section: Front
Edition: Morning Final
Page: 1A
Memo: Mercury News Staff Writer Becky Bartindale contributed to this report.
UC TALKS OF WIDER ENTRANCE POLICY
NON-ACADEMIC SUCCESS WEIGHED
LISA M. KRIEGER, Mercury News
A panel of influential educational scholars recommends an overhaul of the 40-year-old University of California eligibility process, urging a shift away from the current focus on grades and SAT scores to a broader review of students' personal achievements, such as initiative and leadership.
 The move, presented for the first time at a UC-Berkeley conference Friday, is seen as a way to expand economic, racial and geographic diversity in one of America's premier public educational institutions. It could enable the UC system to admit more students, boosting the number of educated people in a state that is falling far behind others. But the program would require more state spending because campuses would have to be expanded for additional students.
It also could stiffen competition for slots at the most popular campuses for Santa Clara County high school students, whose strong academic credentials have traditionally assured them entry.
''We are discussing ways that would allow the campuses to take a look at a broader swath of students than they do now,'' said UC-Davis Professor Mark Rashid, who heads the committee that creates recommendations for UC admissions policy and who contributed to the paper ''California at the Crossroads,'' which proposes the change.
UC officials have grown increasingly concerned about what they see as an unequal access to the system.
Other criteria
''GPA is one single measure of a student's academic achievement. But there are many other things to look at,'' Rashid said. ''Doing things the way we do now does not necessarily result in admitting the students who do best at UC.''
High school grade-point averages and SATs have been shown to correlate with only a minor part of a student's ultimate success in college, according to the paper. But the emphasis causes teachers and students to ''treat UC admissions as a high-stakes game, won by those who can play it best,'' it said.
If approved by the UC regents, changes to the enormous and complex eligibility system would take at least a year or two to put into place, predicted Rashid.
At a Friday evening round-table, UC President Robert Dynes said, ''It is a set of provocative, but not earth-shattering ideas, by a lot of smart people.'' But he cautioned against throwing out the current master plan. ''The research should be done and if the case is made then we make the case to the rest of the world.''
Broader review
The recommendation would mean that students with a C+ (2.75 GPA) average, who were likely to be shut out under the old system, would now be eligible to have their applications reviewed -- giving them the opportunity to list leadership positions, jobs or ways in which they have triumphed over adversity. Low SAT scores, while still considered, would not close the door.
However, acceptance to a specific campus -- say, Berkeley or Los Angeles -- would still require stellar performance in both academic and non-academic realms.
Signed into law by Gov. Pat Brown in 1960, California's master plan of college eligibility has guaranteed a spot at UC for the top 12.5 percent of the state's high school graduates, based on test scores and grades earned in UC-approved college prep courses.
But that approach has widened the ''achievement gap'' in the increasingly diverse state. Access to UC schools for many racial and ethnic minorities and for students at ''disadvantaged high schools,'' as defined by socioeconomics or geography, is consistently low.
The access problem was exacerbated in 1995 when UC regents voted to end race as a factor in admissions, then extended in 1996 with passage of the anti-affirmative-action Proposition 209.
Beginning with the 1998 entering class, there was a dip in the proportion of African-Americans, Latinos and American Indians on UC campuses.
The net result is that some counties -- like Fresno and Kern -- have UC entry rates that are only one-fourth that of Santa Clara County.
If the UC system is allowed to expand, increased access for some does not mean decreased access for others, said William Kidder of UC-Davis, another contributor to the paper.
''As a practical matter, if a student has a very high GPA and has taken a large number of honors classes and has very solid SATs, that student is still very likely to be admitted to a UC campus, although perhaps not the campus of first choice,'' he said.
Expanding the size of UC ''is a challenge, in terms of the budget,'' Kidder conceded. ''Before anything substantive could happen in a major way, it would require legislative involvement.''
Some critics say that research, not diversity, is the main purpose of UC, and there should not be a lowering of the academic standard for eligibility.
''I want to see increased diversity but I am in favor of getting there one step at a time -- from the community colleges, to California State University, to UC -- and not give someone a special privilege to attempt three steps in one,'' said Lester Lee, who was the first Chinese-American member of the board of regents, where he served from 1993 to 1994.
'Now I have support'
If implemented, a change would bode well for students like Amanda Marquez, 17, of San Jose. Her grades started low but climbed after her transfer to San Jose's Downtown College Prep after her freshman year. She now has earned a 4.2 GPA this grading period -- an A+ average. But her overall 2.8 GPA may shut doors to UC, where she hopes to study nursing.
''It depends on your determination -- how badly you want it,'' she said. ''Now I have support and momentum.''
College guidance counselor Vicky Evans of Downtown College Prep says that many of her first-generation college applicants would benefit from a broader evaluation by UC.
''These kids are motivated. There is a trajectory of improvement. They are engaged and will ask for help,'' she said. ''But they're saddled with their grades. And as second-language learners, many have tested low.''
Gloria Medina, a junior at UC-Santa Cruz, grew up in a Spanish-speaking home in San Jose and had a mediocre GPA, becoming eligible for UC only after rigorous summer work. With academic support at UCSC, she said, ''there was no huge difference between how I did and the people did with 1600 on their SATs and 4.0 GPAs.''
Illustration:Chart
CHART: MERCURY NEWS
MINORITIES AT UC
African-Americans, Latinos and American Indians represent almost half of all high school graduates in California, but only a fifth of students in the University of California system.
California public high school grads 45.8%
UC-Berkeley 16.5%
UC system 20.6%
Sources: University of California, Department of Education, Department of Finance
Copyright (c) 2006 San Jose Mercury News
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