A little history:

A couple years back, UCLA was under intense scruitiny for admitting low numbers of black students to the university.  In 2005, only 2.7% of the incoming class were black students.

Rewind to 1996 – when the super controversial Prop 209 was passed in the state of California, that amended the state consitution to prohibit public schools from considering race, sex, and ethnicity for admissions puposes.  This effectively ended affirmative action in the UC school system.

Today:

Since then, admission rates for minorities have dropped and critics have complained that there wasn’t enough minority admissions and graduates.  What is a school to do when they can’t use race or ethnicity as a marker of privilege and class when issues such as race and ethnicity STILL matter in society today?

Last year, the adoption of a hollistic admissions system, where an applicant’s whole application is taken into consideration was adopted and on Thursday, the UC Board of Regents approved a new mandate to revise admissions policies.  According to the AP Press, this would “expand the pool of undergraduate applicants but guarantee entry to fewer high-achieving students”.  The new rule would drop the two subject SAT scores and take factors such as “achievements, application essays, and family and extracurricular activities” into extra consideration.  Changes are effective for the incoming fall class of 2012.

Read More: UC regents moving toward easing admissions requirements (Los Angeles Times)

California state schools overhaul admissions policy (The Associated Press)


Posted by Maria Iu

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