UCs and CSUs Implement Waitlist Process

On February 8, the University of California (UC) Board of Regents released a bulletin announcing that eight UC campuses, all excluding Merced and Los Angeles, will adopt a waitlist procedure for the Fall 2010 freshmen and transfer admissions. This procedure will also apply to the California State University (CSU) system.

The move comes in response to budget cuts as well as increased enrollment in the UC/CSU system. The waitlist is designed to give universities flexibility in deciding the number of students to enroll for the Fall 2010 term. With recent state budget cuts, the significant loss of funding for the UC and CSU system disables universities from accepting as many students as before.
In past years, each college has admitted a certain number of students based on an estimation from past years on how many accepted students will actually attend the school. However, the recent economic meltdown has prompted more students to complete their schooling within California to avoid paying considerably higher out-of-state and private school tuitions.
Faced with these considerations, the UC/CSU system aims to potentially maximize enrollment as much as possible for the Fall 2010 term.

Recently, the state government has requested $6.9 billion in financial aid from the federal government to support its education infrastructure. The lack of finances may prevent around 5,000 students from attending the UC/CSU college system for the upcoming school year. As students adapt to the difficult times, waitlisting may advantageously increase their chances of enrollment, since the Board implemented the waitlist in lieu of further cutting back on admissions.

However, students will be required to wait a few more weeks for the final verdict as the UCs have the right not to notify the wait-listed applicants until June 1. Although rejected student can appeal to each campus, a waitlisted student does not have the option to appeal.

If students are placed on the waitlist, they should be prepared to attend another school. “You should still submit a deposit and Statement of Intent to Register to a college [that you have already been accepted to]. If the UC campus that waitlisted you decides to admit you, you can withdraw from the other school and attend the UC,” said Counselor DeAnne Andrews. “This puts students in a difficult situation. [The process] even feels strange to us as counselors.”

Since the new procedure is largely a result of the state budget cuts, the Board of Regents is considering differential fees. Higher-ranked campuses, such as Berkeley and Los Angeles, could have higher tuition rates than Irvine or Davis. This plan, although controversial, is a method to bring in more revenue to the more popular campuses.

Written by Rishi Das & Cynthia Kang
Mar 19, 2010 at 12:21 PM