The board's vote was unanimous with one abstention.
The new eligibility requirements, which are based on the recommendations made by UC's Academic Senate, will expand the opportunity to be considered for freshman admission to all California students who complete at least 11 of UC's 15 required college preparatory courses by the end of their junior year in high school, achieve a GPA of at least 3.0 (weighted with additional grade points for up to eight semesters of honors-level courses), and take either the ACT with Writing or the SAT Reasoning Examination.
California high school seniors who meet these requirements would be entitled to a full and comprehensive review of their applications at each UC campus to which they apply.
Among this group, students who fall in the top 9 percent of all high school graduates statewide, based on their ACT or SAT test scores and GPA in UC-approved courses, will be guaranteed admission to at least one campus in the system, as will those who rank in the top 9 percent of their own high school graduating class. This will ensure that the highest-performing students on traditional academic measures will be guaranteed a spot at one of UC's campuses.
"The new admissions policy will increase opportunity for students by expanding the number of applications our campuses review, while continuing to produce a freshman class that is just as qualified as in years past, including by the traditional measures of high school grades and test scores," said UC President Mark G. Yudof. "It also sends a clear message to California high school students that if they work hard, take challenging courses and do well, they will get to make their case for admission to UC."
Under the new admission policy, prospective students will no longer be required to take the SAT subject examinations, thus aligning UC's test requirements more closely with those of other public universities. UC is currently the only public higher education system in the nation to require students to take two subject examinations.
"It is currently impossible for a student to become eligible for UC admission without taking SAT Subject Tests in two different subject areas," said UC Academic Senate Chair Mary Croughan. "As a result, many otherwise well-qualified students who do not take the subject tests are automatically deemed ineligible, even when their grades and test scores on the ACT or SAT are in some cases superior to those of students currently considered UC eligible. I believe removing this technical barrier will be viewed by students and parents as fairer than our current eligibility process."
The elimination of UC's subject test requirement stems from extensive faculty research that indicates SAT Subject Tests contribute very little to UC's ability to select freshmen who will do well at UC, once their GPA and SAT or ACT scores are considered. Studies from several years ago highlighted the value of the subject tests in this regard, but that value has declined markedly with the addition of the writing test to the main SAT and ACT exams.
Still, under the new eligibility policy, students will have the choice to submit their subject tests scores as part of their credentials to be considered during the campus-level admission process, and subject tests also might be recommended for some majors at some campuses.
The new requirements widen the door of opportunity for many more high-achieving students -- from all ethnic and racial groups as well as those from low-performing schools -- to be considered for admission to UC. Based on 2007 data from the California Postsecondary Education Commission, it is estimated that 21.7 percent of California high school graduates would be entitled to a full review of their applications compared with 13.4 percent of graduates estimated to be UC eligible in 2007.
"Broadening the pool of students who can undergo comprehensive review means that more qualified students will have the opportunity to be considered for admission to UC," Croughan said.
Although the proposal's impact on diversity is hard to predict with accuracy, UC's research suggests that if the proposal had been in place in 2007, the demographic characteristics of students in the guaranteed portion of the pool would remain roughly similar to those of the current pool, and in the larger entitled-to-review pool, both African American and Chicano-Latino students would increase as a proportion of the total. The raw numbers of students who are able to have their applications considered by UC campuses would increase substantially for all groups, as noted above. For more detailed information, see tables 1 and 2 in the Regents' item: www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/feb09/e2.pdf
Because families and students will need time to understand and prepare for the new requirements, the changes will be implemented with students who apply for admission for fall 2012. In the meantime, the university will conduct an extensive informational campaign using a variety of media to make sure parents, students and counselors are properly informed of the changes.
"There is no perfect admission system," Yudof said. "But I believe the reforms contained in this new policy will make UC's admission process fairer while preserving our high academic standards. Most importantly, I believe it will produce a class that will be prepared to meet the rigors of a UC education and go on to meet the societal and workforce needs of California."
For more information about the freshman eligiblity changes: www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/eligibilitychanges