Lawmaker Proposes Limiting Out-of-State Enrollment at University of California Schools

A California lawmaker is proposing to limit the number of out-of-state and international students who can enroll at University of California campuses.

The 10 campuses that make up the U.C. system — including selective universities like Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles — would be prohibited from enrolling more than 10 percent of non-Californians as members of the freshman class. The proposed California Students First Act, which was introduced by Senator Michael J. Rubio, a Democrat from Shafter, Calif., would also cap undergraduate enrollment of nonresidents at 10 percent.

The measure, which was introduced last week, would ensure that California students had a “fair shot” at attending the public universities, Mr. Rubio said, “and not be turned away simply because a wealthy student from the East Coast or abroad shows up with a checkbook in hand.”

In fall 2012, out-of-state and international students made up more than 23 percent of the freshman class on U.C. campuses, more than double the 11.5 percent of non-Californians who enrolled in 2009. In contrast, more California students are applying to these state universities, competing for seats on the U.C. system campuses.

The measure has a long way to go before it becomes a law. If it does, it has the potential to change who attends the University of California, Berkeley, and U.C.L.A., two campuses that are “internationally renowned,” said Peter King, a spokesman for the university system. In 2010-11, U.C.L.A. had the sixth-largest international student population in the country, according to the Institute of International Education.

“The world wants to come there,” Mr. King said of U.C.L.A. and Berkeley.

Limiting the number of students who pay out-of-state and international tuition rates may also have a negative impact on revenue streams at the campuses.

“We’re now operating at 1997 levels of funding from the state, while serving 70,000 more students,” Mr. King said.

Although the system guarantees admission to the top 9 percent of high school graduates at participating schools, it doesn’t guarantee that those students will be admitted to the Berkeley, Los Angeles and San Diego campuses, which are becoming more selective. The U.C. system already has a policy of limiting out-of-state undergraduate enrollment to 10 percent, and non-Californian undergraduates make up about 7 percent of U.C. institutions, Mr. King said.

That figure, however, varies at the individual campuses.

“The U.C. system is funded by taxpayers, so it clearly makes sense that they should get first right of refusal to attend U.C. schools,” Mr. Rubio said. “As a public university system, the U.C.’s should not act as private schools and become schools for the wealthy.”

The U.C. system would oppose the measure if it came close to becoming a law, Mr. King said.

“This is a California institution,” he said. “It will always be a California institution.”

[ Source: New York Times ]