Looking for a way to factor in race when admitting students without breaking the law, the University of California Regents today voted to change the admissions policy.
Effective 2012, applicants with a GPA of 3.0 or higher who’ve completed at least 11 of 15 required college prep courses by their junior year and taken the ACT with Writing or SAT Reasoning exam will be considered for admission. Presently, UC applicants are required to take two SAT subject tests, which disqualified 22,000 high school graduates last year. UC has dropped these test requirements. Although the new rules will reduce guaranteed admissions, they will increase the number of students eligible for “comprehensive review.” (Source)
According to faculty research, the value of the two subject tests has declined. They contribute “very little” to the school’s ability to select qualified students. UC President Mark Yudof said, “There is no perfect admission system. But I believe the reforms contained in this new policy will make UC’s admission process fairer while preserving our high academic standards.”
There is nothing radical about these changes. They certainly widen the pool of applicants, but it’s more of the same “holistic” review in which an applicant’s “life experience,” personal statement, and the like are weighed more heavily and grades and scores weighed less.
Last month I mentioned the then-upcoming UC Regents meeting and linked to a Human Events article written by Jay Schalin. I share his opinion: Although supporters say the changes are not motivated by concern with so-called diversity, they reflect the same methods used by other schools seeking to add color to the student body.
Former UC Regent Ward Connerly weighs in:
“The most troubling aspects of the Regents’ recent actions are: increasing to 9% from 4% the percentage of students from each California high school who will be eligible; and the fact that students who come from households with less than $60k annual income will pay no tuition. They will get scholarships from fees paid by kids whose families earn over $60K annually.”
{ 2 comments }
This is a discriminactory against well qualified white and Asian students in favor of less qualified black and Hispanic students. It is also a devious way to get around Prop. 209.
Our country has lost its competitiveness because we care more about “political correctness” and “affirmative action” instead of talents and qualifications.
I agree. This is targeting Asians because this want less quqlified people to apply. There are those who worked harder at this and SAT 2 are pretty useful. Bring them back!
Comments on this entry are closed.