Cuts
may force UC to accept additional out-of-state
students
By
Shaun Bishop
Daily Bruin
LOS
ANGELES (U-Wire) -- Sweeping budget cuts
threaten the future of the University of
California while officials scramble for
ways to maintain the quality of the system
for the people of California.
Their
answers could be thousands of miles away.
At
his final UC Regents meeting last week in
San Francisco, President Richard Atkinson
suggested to the board that the UC accept
more out-of-state students to pay for increases
in enrollment of California residents.
The
state Legislature has refused to provide
for these projected enrollment growths,
which means 5,000 new and continuing students
could be turned away next year.
"We
will do our utmost to maintain our commitments
to California's students, but the lack of
funding makes this an increasingly difficult
challenge for the university," Atkinson
said in a July statement.
The
university is hurting financially from several
years of sweeping cuts, and is now facing
a deficit totaling nearly $8 billion for
next year.
Furthermore,
with enrollment up 18 percent and state
support down 14 percent, the UC is trying
to find ways to maintain its obligation
to educating the public.
Currently,
tuition for California residents covers
about a quarter of what their education
actually costs, whereas non-residents pay
more than the full cost. These extra thousands
from additional out-of-state students could
work toward subsidizing residents' educations.
Atkinson
noted that comparable public institutions
across the country, such as the University
of Michigan and the University of Virginia,
enroll approximately 30 percent non-residents
compared to the UC's 6 percent. His proposal
suggests California residents would not
be replaced, but supplemented by non-residents.
In
addition to raising their enrollment, he
suggested the UC "jack up" tuition
for non-residents, as UC out-of-state tuition
is currently several thousand dollars behind
Michigan or Virginia.
According
to spokesman Joel Seguine, the University
of Michigan has kept its admissions policies
consistent, as enrollment of non-residents
has stayed at about a third for nearly 15
years.
"We're
not engineering that number, it's turned
out that way," Seguine said, explaining
Michigan's goals for diversity -- geographic,
economic, racial and ethnic -- have shaped
the out-of-state percentage.
Seguine
emphasized the fact that Michigan's priority
is still with its residents and that it
is looking to "provide a high quality
education for all of [its] students and
maintain an high standard of student body."
Sally
Lindsley, associate director of undergraduate
admissions for Michigan, expressed a similar
sentiment, saying the university typically
receives a high-quality applicant pool,
and in order to retain a distinguished reputation,
must accept the most qualified applicants,
no matter where they come from.
Lindsley
also pointed out that California has many
more residents to serve than Michigan which
may explain the large discrepancy in out-of-state
enrollment between the systems.
UCLA
higher education Professor Arthur Cohen
said he believes raising out-of-state enrollment
could be a favorable option to others such
as raising student fees or cutting programs,
provided the extra students don't push Californians
out of the system.
"Any
substantial increase in out-of-state students
should be matched by an increase in the
overall UC student number so that it's not
taking positions away from California residents,"
Cohen said.
Cohen
added that he believes there is enough slack
system-wide that a gradual increase in student
population would not affect the quality
of education.
Shahrouz
Ganjian, a third-year biology student, pays
out-of-state tuition as a resident of New
York. He said he would be in favor of raising
tuition if it would maintain the reputation
and quality of life that attracted him to
UCLA in the first place.
"Most
people will say tuition is already high
and [raising it] is absurd. It's not absurd,
it's only fair," Ganjian said, adding
he would only support moderate increases.
Despite
all the speculation, UC spokesman Hanan
Eisenman emphasized no decisions have been
made, and that the proposed increases in
out-of-state enrollment are just one of
many options being considered to help deal
with California's fiscal crisis.
The
regents have said their next meeting in
November will be used to further discuss
the budget and that no action will be taken
until their January 2004 meeting.
"Most
people will say tuition is already high
and [raising it] is absurd. It's not absurd,
it's only fair."
-- Shahrouz Ganjian, UCLA biology student
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