UC,
CSU will switch to online-only applications
By
Amelia Mularz
Daily Californian
BERKELEY
(U-Wire) -- Hoping to speed up the college
admissions process, University of California
and California State University systems
announced plans Monday to move their applications
exclusively online by fall 2005.
The
move follows a surge in voluntary online
applications at California's top public
university systems,
with 70 percent of applications submitted
through the Internet last year.
"It's
easy to use and convenient," said UC
spokesperson Lavonne Luquis.
The
online application will cut down on clerical
errors and boost the universities' processing
time, university officials said.
Both
systems said they will accept paper applications
for students with no other option.
Although
not required this year, UC and CSU encouraged
applicants to take advantage of the Internet
during the fall 2004 round.
The
online admission system comes after UC and
CSU faced the biggest state budget cut in
nearly a decade, forcing UC to turn away
1,600 winter transfer applicants.
UC
and CSU applicants have been able to apply
online since 1996. Since then, the online
systems gained popularity, as did those
at other colleges across the country, said
Mike Tressel of Xap Corporation, a private
computer service that supplies CSU its online
application system.
"This
is a very popular trend," Tressel said.
But
some college advisors fear the shift to
online applications may be a major disadvantage
for low-income students.
"Students
who have computers at home will be able
to work late into the night on their applications,
whereas students from low-income families
will have a limited time," said Ilene
Abrams, college advisor at Berkeley High
School.
Aris
Mark, a junior at Berkeley High School,
said students without computers may have
to go to great lengths to complete the online
application, possibly resorting to local
shopping malls.
"I
think people could go to Best Buy, Old Navy,
or the Gap to use a computer, but the Internet
don't always work," Mark said.
Still,
Nancy Delaney, Transfer Center counselor
at Vista College, said the shift to the
electronic application is only a natural
one.
|
