fyi.cnn.com/2001/fyi/teachers.ednews/11/15/california.admissions.ap/index.html -> cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2001/fyi/teachers.ednews/11/15/california.admissions.ap/index.html
Ynette Felarca, an Oakland teacher, demonstrates Wednesday outside of a meeting of the University of California regents in San Francisco, where they adopted a new admissions policy. SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- The University of California, at the forefront of the national debate over what constitutes a fair admissions process, tentatively has approved a new policy that will judge students on personal as well as academic achievements. The change was expected to be approved by the full Board of Regents Thursday. The system, which takes into account any hardships a student had to overcome, is already in use at most elite universities. UC presently uses it to select about half the student body. UC's eight undergraduate campuses currently must admit at least 50 percent of their students on academic criteria alone. Under comprehensive review, admissions officials look at grades and test scores plus such things as whether a student overcame poverty or has special talents. Critics had branded the new policy as backdoor affirmative action, banned by state law. As a leading public university, UC's decision sends a significant signal to other schools struggling with how to balance academic merit with personal endeavor in an era when using subjective criteria such as race has come under legal fire. If it works in California, it probably would work elsewhere," said David Ward, president of the American Council on Education. Comprehensive review would not change the statewide pool of students deemed eligible for entry to one of UC's eight undergraduate campuses. That is determined by meeting grade and test minimums or by graduating in the top 4 percent of one's high school class. UC has a policy of finding a spot somewhere in the system for all eligible students who want to enroll. However, the new policy could change who gets into the top campuses of Berkeley and UCLA. They rescinded that vote in May, but are bound by a 1996 state law banning most state affirmative action programs. After race-blind admissions went into effect, enrollment of blacks and Hispanics tumbled. The figures have rebounded since then, but there has been a reshuffling, with more blacks and Hispanics going to lesser-known campuses such as UC-Riverside and fewer going to Berkeley and UCLA. With the courts increasingly disinclined to approve race-based admissions, a debate has been raging nationally between using purely academic criteria and "what you might call social idealism," said Ward, the ACE president. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. RELATED STORIES: 36 Stanford admissions dean Robin Mamlet: 'A human process' December 15, 2000 37 Florida governor, Cabinet vote to end affirmative action in college admissions February 23, 2000 38 Raising the bar on college admissions June 18, 1999 RELATED SITES: 39 University of California Office of the President 40 American Council on Education Note: Pages will open in a new browser window External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive. HISTORY / GOVERNMENT 43 Holt, Rinehart and Winston: Government 44 Holt: Oral Histories Interviews 45 Holt: The Census and History SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY 46 Holt: Periodic Table ECONOMICS / MATHEMATICS 47 Holt, Rinehart and Winston: Economics LANGUAGE & FINE ARTS / MEDIA 48 Holt: Evaluation Rubrics HEALTH / LIFE SKILLS 49 Holt: Eating disorders 50 Back to the top 2003 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
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