UCs Open More Spaces to Undergraduates

With the first semester coming to a close, seniors are finishing off their college applications and waiting for the arrival of their acceptances or rejections. It is an anxious period for students, especially since some otherwise exemplary students will not make it into their dream schools due to low acceptance rates.

“Californians have been upset that the UC schools are taking in the international and out-of-state students,” Principal Mitzi Cress said.

In response to those concerns, the University of California (UC) schools have recently announced a new plan for the 2016-17 school year. By 2018, the UCs hope to have included 10,000 more undergraduate students than in the past. The enrollment of the incoming class, both freshmen and transfer students, is expected to grow by 5,000 students during this upcoming fall. This is due to the state legislature’s offer of $25 million bonus in state funding for UC schools if they offer more admissions to California undergraduate students.

The new plan has sparked a variety of opinions. The primary concern with this increase is the need for more teachers, dorm rooms and classroom space.

However, officials are already working on a longterm plan to expand the size of the UCs, building brand new labs, dorms and classrooms over the next five years. The addition of more teachers, labs and rooms gives students the capability to broaden their studies and receive the proper education they need in order to graduate.

Furthermore, tuition for in-state students is being decreased, guaranteeing more openings for the incoming class and higher chances of UC admittance for California residents.

The new plan is a plus for high school seniors graduating this year. Senior Julia Schmidt, for example, applied to a number of UC schools and hopes to get into UC Santa Barbara.

“I think this new plan will be beneficial for undergraduate students,” Schmidt said. “It will allow even more students to further their educations at noteworthy schools.”