Editorial: Regents’ GPA decision

The UC Board of Regents is supposed to be the guard of
California’s greatest education system. But it is the
regents’ response to budget cuts that frequently threaten
students more than any other factor.

On Sept. 23, the regents voted to increase the GPA for UC
eligibility from 2.8 to 3.0. The decision reduces the number of
California high school graduates guaranteed admission to a UC
campus from 14.4 percent to 12.5 percent ““ the minimum
standard mandated of the university in 1960.

The change wasn’t surprising: Faced with a shrinking
budget, the UC simply shrunk the applicant pool.

Although the shift may help balance the university’s
finances, it will surely throw into disarray the future of many
young students. Even more alarming, it will further reduce the
UC’s already embarrassingly low minority admission
numbers.

Last fall, there were only 121 black freshmen on this campus
““ about one in 40 students.

The UC Academic Senate predicts black admissions will fall 2
percent to 3 percent under the guidelines, and other groups may
drop more than 1 percent.

The doors to the UC are closing and the price is rising, with no
end in sight.

The UC has grown significantly in size and caliber since 1960
““ pulling in the reins of growth now only forces us backward,
rather than forward.