California State University System May Turn Away Up to 10,000 Qualified Students
At the same time that the nation’s largest college system,
California State University, is experiencing soaring admissions — up
10 percent over last year — the college system has announced it may
begin turning away qualified students due to a state budget
shortfall that could reach $24 billion by 2010, The Los Angeles
Times reports (“CSU May Cut Future Enrollment by 10,000,” Nov. 18,
2008).
In anticipation of a possible $66 million midyear budget reduction,
the Cal State system will be moving up application deadlines and
increasing the academic standards for admission to help weed out
some students. Cal State University system chancellor, Charles Reed,
has said the school system needs to pare back its 450,000 enrollment
at 23 campuses by 10,000 students for the 2009–10 school year.
Since the university system has never had to limit enrollments
before, university officials aren’t exactly sure which students —
freshmen, sophomore transfer, international, or out-of-state — will
be most affected by the rollbacks. But the enrollment-cut
proposition has left some administrators thinking that California
high school graduates will perhaps be the hardest hit.
If the school system cuts just 5,000 students, first-year
admissions, which typically reach 50,000 students, would take a 10-
percent cut.
“These are going to be kids who have done everything they’re
supposed to do, and told year after year they’ll have this
opportunity,” said Kathy Rapkin, chair of the counseling department
at California’s Arcadia High School. “These kids are not going to
get a place.”
Other Institutions May Be Affected by the State Budget Shortfall
Schools in the California State system are not the only institutions
in the state that may be impacted by the $24 billion state budget
shortfall. Administrators for the University of California system
have said they may have to limit admissions to their most popular
campuses and send students to the system’s less-populated campuses,
UC Riverside and UC Merced. They have not issued statements
regarding enrollment cuts.
Officials at California’s community colleges don’t anticipate having
to reduce their enrollment numbers, but they may have to limit
students’ access to certain classes.
Diane Woodruff, chancellor of the California Community Colleges
System Office, said, of the 2.7 million students currently enrolled
in California community colleges, some 250,000 students, or nearly
10 percent, could be driven away.