BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: SCA 22
AUTHOR: Rubio
AMENDED: May 15, 2012
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 27, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
NOTE: This bill 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.
SUBJECT : University of California Admissions.
SUMMARY
This bill proposes to add a new section to Article IX of
the State Constitution that would require that out-of state
undergraduate students make up no more than 10 percent of
the total undergraduate enrollment, and no more than 10
percent of the incoming class at each campus of the
University of California, beginning with the 2013-14
academic year.
BACKGROUND
Current law generally requires that a student classified as
a nonresident pay nonresident tuition. Current law
authorizes both the UC and the CSU to establish nonresident
student tuition policies and methodologies to be developed
by each institution's governing body. The annual fee rate
is prohibited from falling below the marginal cost of
instruction and the rates at comparison institutions, as
identified by the California Postsecondary Education
Commission, must be considered. (Education Code � 68050-�
68052)
The California Constitution establishes the University of
California (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
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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 bill proposes to place before the voters an amendment
to the California Constitution that, beginning in the
2013-14 academic year:
1) Constitutionally prohibits out-of-state undergraduate
students from exceeding 10 percent of the total
undergraduate enrollment of each campus of the UC.
2) Constitutionally prohibits out-of-state undergraduate
students from exceeding 10 percent of the total
incoming class at each campus of the UC.
3) Defines "out-of-state undergraduate student" as a
student whose residence was outside of California at
the time he or she initially applied for enrollment in
the UC.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, SCA 22
will ensure that California residents and taxpayers
continue to have access to these world renowned UC
schools and will put an end to the trend of the UC
actively seeking out-of-state students. Not only does
this trend limit opportunities for in-state students,
whose taxes help fund the UC system, it also
contributes to the perceived privatization of the
system and undermines public support for restoring
funding. SCA 22 will simply ensure that UC abides by
its core mission and does not enroll more out-of-state
students for purely financial reasons.
2) 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.
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3) UC Commission on the Future report . In 2009, UC
President Yudof announced the creation of the UC
Commission on the Future, charged with developing a
vision for the future of the UC that would reaffirm
its role in sustaining California's economy and
cultural life while recognizing that limited state
resources required the UC to be creative and strategic
in meeting that mission. The final report of the
Commission was adopted in November 2010.
Among other things, the Commission recommended that
the UC allow campuses to increase the number and
proportion of undergraduate nonresident students to
generate additional resources to sustain current
instructional capacity and quality. The Commission
also requested that:
a) Campuses establish targets that did not
displace funded California residents eligible for
UC admission.
b) The President of the UC monitor enrollments
to ensure that these students were fairly
apportioned among campuses.
c) The President ensure that the proportion of
nonresidents systemwide did not exceed 10 percent
and annually report on the systemwide proportion
to the Regents.
While it is clear that the pressures of the state's
budget situation compel the UC to consider sources of
revenue outside the general fund in order to meet
their needs/priorities, how much of a publicly funded
infrastructure should be used for the education of
individuals other than California residents and
taxpayers? Is the responsibility of a public, land
grant institution to serve the taxpayers and citizens
of California met by limiting those students and
families that can be accommodated based upon the
funding provided specifically for this purpose by the
Legislature and Governor?
4) Policy/rationale for nonresident students . According
to the UC, the University sets enrollment targets for
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California students based on the funding it receives
from the state. Each campus then sets enrollment
targets for nonresident students over and above
California-resident enrollment based on its remaining
physical and instructional capacity. According to the
UC Commission on the Future report, in 2010, this
strategy/policy proposal called for the possibility of
increased enrollment of 7,600 nonresident
undergraduates as replacements for existing resident
students enrolled above the 2007-08 enrollment
targets, as "the state provides no funds for these
over-enrolled students." According to the UC, the
state did not provide enrollment growth funding in
2008-09 and 2009-10, while the UC admitted all
eligible California residents, resulting in the
enrollment of 11,000 students that were not funded by
the state. In response, the UC reports that it has
been making an effort to reduce resident enrollments
to match available state resources.
5) Non-resident students . Non-resident students pay
roughly $23,000 per year more than California-resident
students. According to the UC, it uses these funds to
recruit and retain faculty, offer additional courses
to reduce class sizes and improve access to core areas
of the curriculum, expand library collections and
student services and renew instructional equipment and
technology.
According to the UC, the majority of its domestic
nonresident are from Washington, Texas, Oregon and
Nevada, and the highest proportion of its
international students come from China and South Korea
with a substantial portion of students from Canada,
Taiwan, and India. These nonresident students are
required to meet higher academic thresholds (at least
a 3.4 GPA). Nonresident students can also qualify for
UC need-based grants, some scholarships, and if
domestic students, federal aid.
6) Current status of out-of state-admissions . The UC
reports that it caps its undergraduate enrollment of
nonresident students at 10 percent systemwide. The UC
reports that for fall 2012, approximately 6.9 percent
of UCs enrolled undergraduate population hail from
outside California. Staff notes that the definition in
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this bill captures international and domest7)ic
nonresident undergraduates enrolled . The chart below
outlines the number and proportion of freshman admits
at each campus for the last three years.
The proportion of non-resident undergraduate students
enrolled at each of the individual campuses in 2010 and
2011 ranges from highs of 18% and 14% at Berkeley and UCLA,
respectively, to between 2% and 9% at other UC campuses.
SUPPORT
AFSCME Local 3299
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
One individual letter
OPPOSITION
University of California