Assemblymen introduce bill to cap nonresident students on UC campuses
Undergraduate student government External Vice President Zach Helder said he will lobby against the bill proposed Tuesday that aims to cap out-of-state student enrollment. (Owen Emerson/Bruin senior staff)
By Shreya Maskara
Jan. 27, 2016 7:34 a.m.
A bill brought to the California legislature Tuesday will limit the number of out-of-state students that can be enrolled at the University of California.
If approved, Assembly Bill 1711 would cap the out-of-state and international student enrollment for undergraduates at 15.5 percent across the nine UC campuses. If the University were to accept more nonresident students, the state would withhold all funding to the UC.
Assemblymen Kevin McCarty and Jose Medina proposed the bill, which also requires at least half of the money generated from nonresident supplemental fees to support enrollment of more California students. This funding will be equally distributed across all UC campuses.
Zach Helder, external vice president of the undergraduate student government, said he thinks the bill is a misguided effort to increase California student enrollment. Helder added the Undergraduate Students Association Council will lobby against the bill.
“We will do everything we can to kill the bill,” Helder said.
He added he thinks limiting the number of out-of-state undergraduate students will reduce funding to the UC because it will lower the amount of supplemental non-resident tuition available.
Helder added USAC will lobby against the bill. UCSA is a group of student leaders who advocate on behalf of UC students.
At its November meeting, the UC Board of Regents approved a plan to increase resident enrollment by 5,000 in the 2016-2017 academic year, and by another 5,000 students in the 2018-2019 academic year.
For the 2014-2015 academic year, about 20 percent of freshmen enrolled in UC campuses were out-of-state or international students.
Compiled by Shreya Maskara, Bruin senior staff.
