BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SCA 12
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|Author: | Runner and Huff |
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|Version: | April 13, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: April 20, 2016 |
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|Urgency: | No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:| Kathleen Chavira |
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Subject: University of California: students
NOTE: This measure has been referred to the Committees on
Education and Elections and Constitutional Amendments. A "do
pass" motion should include referral to the Elections and
Constitutional Amendments Committee.
SUMMARY
This measure proposes to modify Article IX of the State
Constitution to require the Regents of the University of
California (UC) to ensure that priority in admissions is given
to applicants who are California residents.
BACKGROUND
The California Constitution establishes the UC, a public trust
to be administered by the Regents of the UC and grants the
Regents full powers of organization and government, subject only
to such legislative control as may be necessary to insure
security of its funds, compliance with the terms of its
endowments, statutory requirements around competitive bidding
and contracts, sales of property and the purchase of materials,
goods and services. (Article IX, Section (9)(a) of the
California Constitution)
ANALYSIS
This constitutional amendment proposes to place before the
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voters a change to the California Constitution to require that
the Regents act in the best interests of the people of
California and honor a fiduciary duty to California residents,
as specified by ensuring that priority in admissions is given to
applicants who are California residents.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author, while UC
admission websites proclaim that the UC prioritizes
admission of California residents, at several UC campuses
non-residents are granted admission at a dramatically
higher rate than California students. Increasingly,
students and parents share the perception that California
students are being passed over for less qualified
non-residents willing to pay more. This constitutional
amendment would reiterate that the primary purpose and
obligation of the UC is to serve the students of
California.
2) Current status of out-of-state admissions. The UC reports
that for the 2014-15 academic year, 13 percent of its
undergraduates systemwide were non-residents. The UC also
notes that the average for other comparable public
institutions nationally is 26 percent. The chart below
summarizes the level of enrollment of non-residents at all
University of California (UC) campuses for the 2012 and
2013 academic years. According to the UC, non-resident
enrollment for 2015-16 was capped at those campuses that
have seen the largest growth, Berkeley (25 percent), Los
Angeles (19 percent), and San Diego (17 percent) was
directed to cap their enrollment of non-residents at 20
percent.
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3) BSA Audit. On March 29, 2016, the California State Auditor
released a report, The University of California, Its
admissions and Financial Decisions have Disadvantaged
California Resident Students. The report lists as its key
findings that the university has undermined its commitment
to residents in an effort to increase its revenue by
recruiting and enrolling non-residents. The report
specifically cites that:
a) Despite a 52 percent increase in resident
applicants, resident enrollment increased by only 10
percent over the last 10 years while non-resident
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enrollment increased by 432 percent.
b) The University lowered the admission standard
for non-residents and admitted nearly 16,000
non-residents over the past three years with academic
scores that fell below the median of admitted
residents.
c) Admitted residents were increasingly denied
their campus of choice, yet admitted non-residents
were always admitted to one of their campuses of
choice.
d) Mandatory fees doubled for residents while
they increased for non-residents at a much lower rate.
According to the report, in 2011, the UC Board on
Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) eliminated
wording in its 2009 nonresident undergraduate admissions
principles that nonresidents "should demonstrate stronger
admission criteria than CA residents by generally being in
the upper half of those ordinarily eligible" for admission.
BOARS revised its principles to state that admitted
nonresidents should "compare favorably to California
residents admitted" and left application of this standard
to campuses.
In response, the UC asserts that its admissions policies
overwhelmingly favor Californians, and that state funding
determines how many California residents the UC enrolls.
1) Constitutional amendment requirements. As a proposed
Constitutional
Amendment, this measure would not go into effect unless
approved by the majority of voters at a statewide election.
This proposal requires a 2/3 vote of each house in order
to be submitted to the voters. It does not require approval
by the Governor.
2) Conflicting Legislation? Legislative counsel has noted a
potential conflict between this bill, and SCA 1 (Lara),
also on the Committee's agenda today, as both propose
changes to Section 9, Article IX of the California
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Constitution. While the provisions of each proposed
Constitutional amendment do not appear to be in conflict,
this bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on
Elections and Constitutional Amendments which has
jurisdiction over bills to amend the constitution and can
appropriately determine any necessary amendments to address
a conflict.
3) Related legislation? While this Committee has heard
several bills that propose to restrict undergraduate
non-resident enrollment this measure imposes no such
restriction. In response to recent policies adopted by the
UC in regard to non-resident admissions, this bill imposes
a broad responsibility on the Regents to ensure that
California resident students who apply to the UC are
extended priority in admissions.
SUPPORT
None received.
OPPOSITION
None received on this version.
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