There has been a running tradition that the University of California system will have to break, in order to deal with all of the budget cuts and issues with state funding. Waiting lists will now be implemented at some of the UC campuses this Spring. Most UC campuses are expected to adopt waiting lists for freshman admission for at least a bit, while the budget troubles pan out. The state budget cuts resulted in about a 6% drop in enrollment capacity for UC schools, but UC is hopeful that this next school year will not be as bad. This year’s class had about 74,000 freshman who decided to apply, but only about 34,000 decided to actually enroll in a UC school. Private colleges and universities have used waiting lists like this for years, but the UC system has not tested such a process in decades.
Since this is new to the UC, it will be difficult to transition into, and tough to make sure that everything is managed in an optimal way. Many students might end up on multiple UC waiting lists, which could be problematic if not handled properly. It is still not final if all colleges will use this waiting list system, as some might be content to stay with their old system. Many students are upset about this process, as they are stressed already and do not need to wait longer than needed to know if they have been accepted into a UC school. Governor Schwarzenegger recently proposed to raise the UC general funding by roughly $370 million, which might help solve the problem.
Tags: California Universities
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